Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0Whitefield’s library runs 172 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Whitefield Public Library serves Whitefield’s 2,551 residents. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
The short version on Whitefield’s library
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Whitefield Public Library ran 440 programs last year, about 8 a week. That’s 172 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 5,712 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
81% of the 440 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Whitefield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Whitefield is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #40 of 126 in New Hampshire. Whitefield’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Whitefield
7.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.3%
7.3% of Whitefield’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical New Hampshire town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Whitefield’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Whitefield last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Whitefield Public Library serves 2,551 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
2,362 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Whitefield Public Library, 8 Lancaster Road, Whitefield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Whitefield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitefield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $106K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $267K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $106K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 488 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Whitefield ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem | Bethlehem Public Library fine-free | 9.0 | 34 | A |
| Whitefield | Whitefield Public Library fine-free | 5.7 | 38 | B+ |
| Jefferson | Marc A. Hurzeler, M.D. Library fine-free | 4.0 | 22 | B− |
| Carroll | Twin Mountain Public Library fine-free | 3.0 | 16 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Dalton | Dalton Public Library fine-free | 1.9 | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Whitefield Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Whitefield
Does Whitefield have a public library?
Yes. Whitefield Public Library, 8 Lancaster Road, serves Whitefield’s 2,551 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Whitefield Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Whitefield’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Whitefield’s civic life grade?
B+ Whitefield is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #40 of 126 in New Hampshire. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Whitefield.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.