Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainBrooklin’s library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Friend Memorial Public Library serves Brooklin’s 839 residents. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,392 visits.
Brooklin’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
92% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 8%. What your card is worth ↓
More library cards than residents
1,007 cards for 839 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Brooklin uses its library more than almost any town its size
Friend Memorial Public Library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Friend Memorial Public Library serves 839 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 33 hours a week. 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 ↓
Brooklin invests in its library
Friend Memorial Public Library spends $236 per resident a year, about four times the typical $54 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Brooklin’s civic life grade
Brooklin 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Friend Memorial Public Library serves 839 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
1,923 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
158 programs a year
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 Brooklin last year.
Find it
Friend Memorial Public Library, 1 Reach Road, Brooklin.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Brooklin? 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 $1.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brooklin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $198K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $214K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $198K 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 1,007 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Brooklin ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frenchboro | Frenchboro Public Library fine-free | 18.3 | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Brooklin | Friend Memorial Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 33 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Blue Hill | Blue Hill Public Library fine-free | 13.5 | 53 | B+ |
| Swans Island | Swans Island Public Library fine-free | 9.4 | 15 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Deer Isle | Chase Emerson Memorial Library fine-free | 3.0 | 17 | B |
| Tremont | Bass Harbor Memorial Library fine-free | 1.4 | 37 | C+ |
| Sedgwick | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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 Brooklin
Does Brooklin have a public library?
Yes. Friend Memorial Public Library, 1 Reach Road, serves Brooklin’s 839 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Friend Memorial 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 Brooklin’s library?
It logged 10.0 visits and lent 13.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Brooklin’s civic life grade?
Brooklin 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 Brooklin.
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.