Photo: Daniel Tripp · Public domainKeene’s library lends 2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Keene Public Library serves Keene’s 1,144 residents. Last year it lent 2,687 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,919 visits.
The short version on Keene’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Keene Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Keene Public Library serves 1,144 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 35 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Keene’s civic life grade
Keene isn’t graded on civic life: its library’s visits weren’t reported for 2024 and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it.
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 Keene
28.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Keene Public Library serves 1,144 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2,687 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,516 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
350 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
38 programs a year
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.
2 places to borrow in Keene
Keene Public Library, 10928 Nys Route 9n, Keene.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Keene? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Keene
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Keene cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $70K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $45K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $70K 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 297 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keene | Keene Public Library fine-free | 2.3 | 35 | — too few inputs |
| Wilmington | Wilmington E.M. Cooper Memorial P L fine-free | 1.7 | 20 | D |
| Elizabethtown | Elizabethtown Library Association fine-free | — | 25 | B+ |
| North Elba | Lake Placid Public Library fine-free | — | 49 | A− |
| Jay | Ausable Forks Free Library | — | 25 | C− |
| North Hudson | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Newcomb | 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 Keene
Does Keene have a public library?
Yes. Keene Public Library, 10928 Nys Route 9n, serves Keene’s 1,144 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Keene 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 Keene’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Keene’s civic life grade?
Keene isn’t graded on civic life: its library’s visits weren’t reported for 2024 and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Keene.
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.