Hussey-Littlefield Farm · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Albion’s library lends 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Albion Public Library serves Albion’s 2,083 residents. Last year it lent 1,526 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,955 visits.
The short version on Albion’s library
Albion Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Albion Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $4 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 14 hours a week
Albion Public Library keeps short hours: about 14 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Winslow Public Library in Winslow, next door, is open about 40 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
Albion Public Library serves 2,083 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 ↓
Runs on less money than most
Albion Public Library spends $4 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). What your card is worth ↓
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 Albion’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Albion is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns. Albion’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Albion Public Library spends $4 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$78K) 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Albion
4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
6.3%
6.3% of Albion’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 Albion’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Albion Public Library serves 2,083 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,526 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
166 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
53 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Albion last year.
Find it
Albion Public Library, 18 Main Street, Albion.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Albion? 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 $3.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Albion cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $8,788.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $30K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8,788 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 1,132 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Albion ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Albion
Does Albion have a public library?
Yes. Albion Public Library, 18 Main Street, serves Albion’s 2,083 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 14 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Albion Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Albion’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Albion’s civic life grade?
C− Albion is ahead of 21% 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 Albion.
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.