Photo: Fletcher · CC BY 4.0Wolfeboro’s library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Wolfeboro Public Library serves Wolfeboro’s 6,459 residents. Last year it lent 79K books, movies and e-books and logged 65K visits.
Wolfeboro’s library, in brief
Wolfeboro ranks 2nd in New Hampshire for library use
Out of 109 New Hampshire towns with a library of their own, Wolfeboro comes 2nd for visits per resident. How it compares ↓
More library cards than residents
7,565 cards for 6,459 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Wolfeboro uses its library more than almost any town its size
Wolfeboro Public Library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 8.8 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 28% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Wolfeboro Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
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 Wolfeboro’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Wolfeboro is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #22 of 126 in New Hampshire. Library visits hold 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 →
57 community nonprofits are registered in Wolfeboro
8.7 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Wolfeboro’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 Wolfeboro’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Wolfeboro Public Library serves 6,459 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
79K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 42K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
21,997 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Wolfeboro last year.
Find it
Wolfeboro Public Library, 259 South Main Street, Wolfeboro.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wolfeboro? 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 $2.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wolfeboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $603K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $603K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 7,565 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Wolfeboro borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolfeboro | Wolfeboro Public Library | 12.2 | 46 | A− |
| Tuftonboro | Tuftonboro Free Library fine-free | 12.0 | 39 | A |
| Alton | Gilman Library fine-free | 4.5 | 21 | C+ |
| Ossipee | Ossipee Public Library fine-free | 2.4 | 32 | C |
| Brookfield | None of its own | — | — | — 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Wolfeboro
Does Wolfeboro have a public library?
Yes. Wolfeboro Public Library, 259 South Main Street, serves Wolfeboro’s 6,459 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wolfeboro Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Wolfeboro’s library?
It logged 10.0 visits and lent 12.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Wolfeboro’s civic life grade?
A− Wolfeboro is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #22 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 Wolfeboro.
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.