Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church · Photo: James M Larson · CC BY-SA 3.0Waterville’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Waterville Public Library serves Waterville’s 212 residents. Last year it lent 481 print books and media and logged 306 visits.
What Waterville’s library is like
Open only about 8 hours a week
Waterville Public Library keeps short hours: about 8 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Waterville Public Library serves 212 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 Waterville’s civic life grade
Waterville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Waterville Public Library serves 212 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
481 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 5,624 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
11 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Waterville Public Library, 115 Main St., Waterville.
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 $1.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Waterville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $12K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $12K 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 178 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Waterville
Does Waterville have a public library?
Yes. Waterville Public Library, 115 Main St., serves Waterville’s 212 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 8 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Waterville Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Waterville’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Waterville’s civic life grade?
Waterville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Waterville.
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.