Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Bangor’s library logs 5.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Bangor Public Library serves Bangor’s 31,628 residents. Last year it lent 206K print books and media and logged 185K visits.
Bangor’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
50,603 cards for 31,628 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
People come to Bangor Public Library a lot
Bangor Public Library logs 5.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
29% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 65%. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Bangor Public Library holds 453,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
Bangor invests in its library
Bangor Public Library spends $93 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. 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.
What’s behind Bangor’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bangor is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #23 of 143 in Maine. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Bangor’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
243 community nonprofits are registered in Bangor
7.6 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 (42 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.5%
8.5% of Bangor’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 Bangor’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bangor Public Library serves 31,628 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 81 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
206K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 453K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Bangor last year.
Find it
Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow Street, Bangor.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bangor? 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 $1.13 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bangor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.9M 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 50,603 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bangor ranks 2nd 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.
- 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 Bangor
Does Bangor have a public library?
Yes. Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow Street, serves Bangor’s 31,628 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bangor 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 Bangor’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 6.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bangor’s civic life grade?
A Bangor is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life, #23 of 143 in Maine. 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 Bangor.
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.