Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Brunswick’s library logs 9.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Curtis Memorial Library serves Brunswick’s 27,468 residents. Last year it lent 311K print books and media and logged 267K visits.
The short version on Brunswick’s library
Brunswick uses its library more than almost any town its size
Curtis Memorial Library logs 9.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in Maine for kids’ borrowing
Brunswick ranks #4 of 97 Maine towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 49% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 39 items per child in Brunswick last year. Kids & programs ↓
Brunswick invests in its library
Curtis Memorial Library spends $84 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 Brunswick’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Brunswick is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #14 of 143 in Maine. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
139 community nonprofits are registered in Brunswick
6.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.0%
11.0% of Brunswick’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 Brunswick’s residents live; 2022.
A year at Curtis Memorial Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Curtis Memorial Library serves 27,468 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
311K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 114K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Brunswick last year.
Find it
Curtis Memorial Library, 23 Pleasant Street, Brunswick.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Brunswick? 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 $1.99 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brunswick cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 12,802 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Brunswick ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freeport | Freeport Community Library fine-free | 11.9 | 40 | A+ |
| Brunswick | Curtis Memorial Library fine-free | 11.3 | 61 | A+ |
| Topsham | Topsham Public Library fine-free | 9.7 | 54 | A− |
| Harpswell | Orrs Island Library fine-free | 0.5 | 20 | B− |
| Bath | Patten Free Library fine-free | — | 44 | A+ |
| West Bath | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Durham | 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.
- 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 Brunswick
Does Brunswick have a public library?
Yes. Curtis Memorial Library, 23 Pleasant Street, serves Brunswick’s 27,468 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Curtis 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 Brunswick’s library?
It logged 9.7 visits and lent 11.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Brunswick’s civic life grade?
A+ Brunswick is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #14 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 Brunswick.
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.