Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainBuxton’s library logs 0.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
West Buxton Public Library Association serves Buxton’s 8,538 residents. Last year it lent 1,714 books, movies and e-books and logged 929 visits.
Buxton’s library, in brief
West Buxton Public Library Association is used less than most libraries its size
West Buxton Public Library Association records 0.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $3 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Open only about 12 hours a week
West Buxton Public Library Association keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Baxter Memorial Library in Gorham, next door, is open about 48 hours a week. The buildings ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 9% of the people West Buxton Public Library Association serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
West Buxton Public Library Association spends $3 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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 Buxton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Buxton is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns, #137 of 143 in Maine. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
West Buxton Public Library Association spends $3 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($75K–$125K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Buxton
2.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.3%
9.3% of Buxton’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 Buxton’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
West Buxton Public Library Association serves 8,538 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1,714 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,864 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
169 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
114 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 Buxton last year.
2 places to borrow in Buxton
West Buxton Public Library Association, 34 River Road (S.R.112), Buxton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Buxton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Buxton
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Buxton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $22K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $26K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $22K 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 755 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Buxton ranks 4th of 5 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.
- 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 Buxton
Does Buxton have a public library?
Yes. West Buxton Public Library Association, 34 River Road (S.R.112), serves Buxton’s 8,538 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is West Buxton Public Library Association 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 Buxton’s library?
It logged 0.1 visits and lent 0.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Buxton’s civic life grade?
C− Buxton is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns on civic life, #137 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 Buxton.
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.