Photo: Whitehouse27 · CC BY-SA 4.0Boothbay Harbor’s library logs 5.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library serves 6,457 people in and around Boothbay Harbor. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 38K visits.
What Boothbay Harbor’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
69% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 31%. What your card is worth ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977. Today’s library there has 2,800 square feet. The building ↓
Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library serves more than Boothbay Harbor
The library’s service area covers 6,457 people in and around Boothbay Harbor, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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 Boothbay Harbor’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Boothbay Harbor is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns. Boothbay Harbor is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Boothbay Harbor’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 →
39 community nonprofits are registered in Boothbay Harbor
18.6 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.7%
8.7% of Boothbay Harbor’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 Boothbay Harbor’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library serves 6,457 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
6,547 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
A National Register landmark since 1977
Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library, 4 Oak Street, Boothbay Harbor.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Boothbay Harbor? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library
Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Apr 18, 1977. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Greek Revival.
Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library is the public library of Boothbay Harbor, Lincoln County, Maine. It is located at 4 Oak Street, in an architecturally significant Greek Revival building constructed as a private residence in 1842. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The building also serves as a war memorial to the town's soldiers of the First World War.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Boothbay Harbor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $433K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $594K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $433K 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 3,097 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southport | Southport Memorial Library fine-free | 13.5 | 25 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Boothbay Harbor | Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library fine-free | 5.3 | 37 | A |
| Boothbay | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Westport Island | 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 Boothbay Harbor
Does Boothbay Harbor have a public library?
Yes. Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library, 4 Oak Street, serves 6,457 people in and around Boothbay Harbor (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Boothbay Harbor Memorial 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 Boothbay Harbor’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 5.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Boothbay Harbor’s civic life grade?
A Boothbay Harbor is ahead of 92% 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 Boothbay Harbor.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.