Concord Public Library
Concord Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Concord (Merrimack County), New Hampshire, serving a legal service area of 44,111 residents through three library buildings. Among the 194 profiled systems in New Hampshire, it leads on total visits, number of library buildings and public computers and ranks third for population served.
Against the median system of its size class, it records only 46% of the program attendance per resident and 93% more visits per resident.
Concord against the 964 systems of its size class
Concord since FY 2019
Visits were 26% above the FY 2019 count of 190,089 (size-class median: −28%). Physical checkouts moved 45% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Concord programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 64% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 20 people each.
Concord in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 239,107
- Physical checkouts
- 169,077
- …of children's materials
- 97,306
- Electronic checkouts
- 84,308
- …of e-books
- 26,249
- …of e-audio
- 45,077
- Registered users
- 10,389
- Program sessions
- 368
- Program attendance
- 7,316
- Print volumes
- 114,919
- Audio items (physical)
- 6,873
- Video items (physical)
- 13,449
- Public computers
- 38
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 4,069
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 20.9
- Operating spending
- $2.2 million
- …on books and other materials
- $202,723
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Concord gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $1.9 million, or $44.04 per resident. The local-government share sits 5 percentage points above the combined share for the 186 profiled systems in New Hampshire. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Concord, building by building
The three buildings cover 36,760 square feet in total, 0.83 square feet per resident against a median of 0.74 for the size class. The largest building is Concord Public Library at 33,700 square feet; the smallest is Heights Branch Library at 900. The longest hours are at Concord Public Library, 56.2 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concord Public Library | Central library | Concord | 56.2 | 33,700 |
| Heights Branch Library | Branch | Concord | 12 | 900 |
| Penacook Branch Library | Branch | Penacook | 10 | 2,160 |
Municipal libraries of similar size in other states
None of these six systems records more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Bloomfield Township Public Library in Michigan.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Superior Public Library | Superior, WI | 44,435 | 2.42 | 3.96 | $35.93 |
| Bloomfield Township Public Library | Bloomfield Township, MI | 44,253 | 4.97 | 14.45 | $150.35 |
| Lebanon Public Library | Lebanon, OH | 44,127 | 3.39 | 12.00 | $55.15 |
| Manheim Township Public Library | Lancaster, PA | 43,977 | 4.70 | 14.13 | $33.12 |
| North Brunswick Free Public Library | North Brunswick, NJ | 43,905 | 1.16 | 2.60 | $41.63 |
| Palm Springs Public Library | Palm Springs, CA | 43,791 | 3.20 | 5.94 | $73.74 |
Nearest in size within New Hampshire
- Derry Public Library · Derry · 34,627 residents
- Taylor Library · East Derry · 34,627 residents
- Dover Public Library · Dover · 33,234 residents
- Rochester Public Library · Rochester · 33,018 residents