Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Bucksport’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Buck Memorial Library serves Bucksport’s 7,758 residents. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
The short version on Bucksport’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
79% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 21%. What your card is worth ↓
Buck Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Buck Memorial Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Buck Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Today’s library there has 2,500 square feet. The building ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 8% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 87% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Bucksport’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bucksport is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #26 of 143 in Maine. Bucksport is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Bucksport’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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Bucksport
6.0 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.1%
9.1% of Bucksport’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 Bucksport’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1987
Buck Memorial Library, 47 Main Street, Bucksport.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bucksport? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Buck Memorial Library
Buck Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 30, 1987. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as High Victorian Gothic.
The Buck Memorial Library is the public library of Bucksport, Maine. It is located at 47 Maine Street in the center of the town, in an architecturally distinguished Gothic Revival stone structure designed by George A. Clough and built in 1887. The building was a gift from the family of Richard Buck, a descendant of Bucksport founder Jonathan Buck, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Buck Memorial Library serves 7,758 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
1,178 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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 Bucksport last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.96 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bucksport cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $129K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $253K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $129K 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 2,024 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bucksport ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orrington | Orrington Public Library fine-free | 2.7 | 32 | B |
| Bucksport | Buck Memorial Library fine-free | 1.8 | 29 | A |
| Winterport | Winterport Memorial Library fine-free | 1.7 | 24 | B− |
| Frankfort | Waldo Peirce Reading Room fine-free | 1.3 | 14 | C |
| Orland | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Prospect | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Verona Island | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Dedham | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Holden | 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 Bucksport
Does Bucksport have a public library?
Yes. Buck Memorial Library, 47 Main Street, serves Bucksport’s 7,758 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Buck 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 Bucksport’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bucksport’s civic life grade?
A Bucksport is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #26 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 Bucksport.
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.