Photo: Donna Garo · CC BY-SA 4.0Addison’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Mayhew Library Assn serves Addison’s 1,183 residents. Last year it lent 541 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,198 visits.
Addison’s library, in brief
Mayhew Library Assn is used less than most libraries its size
Mayhew Library Assn records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $10 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
70% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 30%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 9 hours a week
Mayhew Library Assn keeps short hours: about 9 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Peabody Memorial Library in Jonesport, next door, is open about 25 hours a week. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Mayhew Library Assn offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Mayhew Library Assn serves 1,183 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 Addison’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Addison is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns. Addison’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$63K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Addison
6.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.7%
6.7% of Addison’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.0% in the typical Maine 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 Addison’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mayhew Library Assn serves 1,183 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.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
541 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,142 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Addison last year.
Find it
Mayhew Library Assn, 290 Water Street, Addison.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Addison? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Addison cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $12K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8,512 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 172 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Addison ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonesport | Peabody Memorial Library fine-free | 9.6 | 25 | A− |
| Harrington | Gallison Memorial Library fine-free | 0.9 | 19 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Addison | Mayhew Library Assn fine-free | 0.5 | 9 | C+ |
| Jonesboro | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Beals | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Columbia Falls | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Addison
Does Addison have a public library?
Yes. Mayhew Library Assn, 290 Water Street, serves Addison’s 1,183 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 9 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mayhew Library Assn fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Addison’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Addison’s civic life grade?
C+ Addison is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Addison.
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.