Check out our year in review for 2022!

Table of Contents:

A Note from the Staff

As we look back on the past year, we’re pleased to say that 2022 was a successful year for the library and a significant improvement from 2020 and 2021. Of course, COVID-19 was still a concern for our library, state and nation as a whole. However, this year the Library Trustees and staff successfully minimized the impact of COVID with regard to library services. The library fortunately had no closures in 2022 due to COVID-19, and we loaned more than 12,000 items (digital and in-library checkouts combined)—exceeding our lending numbers that we enjoyed pre-COVID! 

This year we hosted several popular programs, including:

  • Summer Reading Kick-Off with Wildlife Encounters: Ecology and Wellness Center
  • Squam Lakes Wildlife animal show
  • Laser tag sponsored by Next Level Tag
  • Drive-In Movies
  • Community Read programs
  • Quarterly Puzzle Swaps
  • Monthly take-home craft bags for adults and kids


In the fall we joined the Oyster River Community Read “Come to Gather: A Community Read That Explores the Ways We Create and Sustain Our Public Spaces.” Libraries around the seacoast joined in reading Palaces for the People by Eric Klinenberg and hosted a number of events and programs between September and November. The community read was a great success and we were happy to promote several programs in Newfields including:

  • Book discussion on Palaces for the People
  • Community roundtable with local leaders
  • New England Colonial Meetinghouses presentation by Paul Wainwright
  • Inter-faith discussion at the Newfields Community Church


As always, the Friends of the Library deserves a huge thank you. Their assistance allows us to buy more books for adults and children, as well as funding for DVDs and local museum passes that patrons can use for free and discounted visits. The Friends also fund many of our programs and much of the materials needed for our summer reading programs.

We hope that you, your family and friends got to enjoy the library’s offerings this year! 

Check out more of our numbers below:

2022 By the Numbers

Most Borrowed Titles 2022

Adult Fiction

  1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
  2. Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
  3. It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
  4. West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
  5. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
  6. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
  7. The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict
  8. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
  9. Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
  10. The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin

Adult Non-Fiction

  1. Palaces for the People by Eric Klinenberg
  2. History of Newfields by Rev. James Hill Fitts
  3. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
  4. Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach
  5. At the End of Ceres Street: A Chef’s Salute to Portsmouth, New Hampshire by James Haller
  6. Our ­First ­Civil War: ­Pa­tri­ot­s and Loy­al­ist­s in the Amer­i­can Revo­lu­tion by H.W. Brands
  7. Fac­ing the ­Moun­tain: A True S­to­ry of Ja­pane­se Amer­i­can Heroes in World War II by Daniel James Brown
  8. Forest ­Foren­sic­s: A Field­ Guide ­to Read­ing the ­Forest­ed ­Land­scape by Tom Wessels
  9. A Time Be­fore New Hamp­shire: The S­to­ry of a Land and ­Na­tive Peo­ples by Michael J. Caduto
  10. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Mysteries + Thrillers

  1. The Maid by Nita Prose
  2. The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich
  3. Pray for Silence by Linda Castillo
  4. The Poacher’s Son by Paul Doiron
  5. Dream Town by David Baldacci
  6. The Terminal List by Jack Carr
  7. What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline
  8. Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger
  9. The Accomplice by Lisa Lutz
  10. The Heron’s Cry by Ann Cleeves

Easy Fiction

  1. The Pigeon Finds a Hotdog by Mo Willems
  2. Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems
  3. The Mixed-Up Truck by Stephen Savage
  4. Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems
  5. Today I Will Fly by Mo Willems
  6. The Thank You Book by Mo Willems
  7. Pete the Cat and the Bad Banana by James Dean
  8. The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
  9. Are You Scared, Darth Vader? by Adam Rex
  10. Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise by David Ezra Stein

Juvenile Fiction

  1. Unicorn Diaries: Bo’s Magical New Friend by Rebecca Elliott
  2. I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies, 1967 by Lauren Tarshis
  3. Dream On: Whatever After (Book 4) by Sarah Mly­nowski
  4. Wings of Fire Book 1: The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui Sutherland
  5. Beauty Queen: Whatever After (Book 7) by Sarah Mly­nowski
  6. Sugar and Spice: Whatever After (Book 10) by Sarah Mly­nowski
  7. Once Upon a Frog: Whatever After (Book 8) by Sarah Mly­nowski
  8. Unicorn Diaries: Bo and the Dragon Pup by Rebecca Elliott
  9. Unicorn Diaries: Bo and the Merbaby by Rebecca Elliott
  10. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Ro­drick­ Rules (Book 2) by Jeff Kinney

Juvenile Non-Fiction

  1. Sharks and Other Deadly Creatures by Derek Harvey
  2. Star Wars: The Com­plete Vi­su­al ­Dic­tionary by David West Reynolds
  3. Minecraft Construction Handbook by Matthew Needler and Phil Southam
  4. Minecraft Essential Handbook by Stephanie Milton
  5. Guinness Book of World Records 2018
  6. The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden
  7. LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary by Simon Beecroft
  8. Can You Hear the Trees Talking? by Peter Wohlleben
  9. The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan
  10. Fall Walk by Virginia Brimhall Snow

DVDs

  1. And Then There Were None
  2. Shape of Water
  3. Wonder
  4. News of the World
  5. The Greatest Showman
  6. Ghostbusters
  7. Knives Out
  8. Spiderman
  9. Rocketman
  10. Perks of Being a Wallflower

Children + Family DVDs

  1. Rio 2
  2. Sherlock Gnomes
  3. Sing 2
  4. Classic Clues
  5. Sing
  6. Barbie as the Island Princess
  7. The Goonies
  8. Muppets from Space
  9. Rio
  10. Scooby-Doo: Pirates Ahoy!

2022 Staff Picks

Carl’s Picks

  • The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva
  • Running With Sherman by Christopher McDougal
  • Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger
  • Death at the Member-Guest by James Y. Bartlett
  • Flashback by Nevada Barr

Cori’s Picks

  • Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
  • Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
  • The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens
  • Escapade Johnson and Mayhem at Mount Moosilauke by Michael Sullivan
  • Berlin Diaries 1940-1945 by Marie Vassiltchikov

Brittney’s Picks

  • The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
  • The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
  • Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
  • The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver
  • The Humans by Matt Haig

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