Photo: Original uploader was Kimberlyeron at en.wikipedia · CC BY 2.5New Meadows’ library lends 6.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Meadows Valley District serves 1,694 people in and around New Meadows. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,871 visits.
What’s behind New Meadows’ civic life grade
New Meadows 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Meadows Valley District serves 1,694 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Meadows Valley District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
104 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Meadows Valley District, 400 Virginia St., New Meadows.
Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Meadows Valley District branch.
New in New Meadows? 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 $1.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Meadows cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $128K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $189K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $128K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,409 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Meadows Valley District serves 1,694 people in and around New Meadows, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just New Meadows.
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 New Meadows
Does New Meadows have a public library?
Yes. Meadows Valley District, 400 Virginia St., serves 1,694 people in and around New Meadows (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Meadows Valley District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is New Meadows’ library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 6.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is New Meadows’ civic life grade?
New Meadows 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 New Meadows.
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.