Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Exeter’s library lends 7.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Exeter Public Library serves Exeter’s 6,460 residents. Last year it lent 59K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
What Exeter’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 60% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 20 items per child in Exeter last year. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 190 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Federal money pays a real share
5% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 78% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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 Exeter’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Exeter is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #13 of 38 in Rhode Island. Exeter’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 →
35 community nonprofits are registered in Exeter
4.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (4 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.
7.3%
7.3% of Exeter’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.4% in the typical Rhode Island 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 Exeter’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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 Exeter last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Exeter Public Library serves 6,460 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
59K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
12,766 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Exeter Public Library, 773 Ten Rod Road, Exeter.
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 Exeter? 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 $2.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Exeter cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $310K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $919K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $310K 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 2,182 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Exeter ranks 3rd of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Kingstown | North Kingstown Free Library | 16.6 | 60 | B+ |
| East Greenwich | East Greenwich Free Library fine-free | 13.2 | 51 | B |
| Exeter | Exeter Public Library fine-free | 9.2 | 43 | B |
| South Kingstown | South Kingstown Public Library fine-free | 8.1 | 52 | B |
| West Greenwich | Louttit Library fine-free | 7.9 | 45 | C+ |
| Hopkinton | Langworthy Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 33 | B |
| Voluntown | Voluntown Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 30 | B |
| Richmond | Clark Memorial Library | 4.6 | 37 | B− |
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 Exeter
Does Exeter have a public library?
Yes. Exeter Public Library, 773 Ten Rod Road, serves Exeter’s 6,460 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Exeter 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 Exeter’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 9.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Exeter’s civic life grade?
B Exeter is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #13 of 38 in Rhode Island. 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 Exeter.
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.