Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Masonbarge assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY 2.5Castine’s library runs 414 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Witherle Memorial Library serves 1,357 people in and around Castine. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What Castine’s library is like
More library cards than residents
1,752 cards for 1,357 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 ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
58% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 42%. What your card is worth ↓
Seven times the programs of a typical library its size
Witherle Memorial Library ran 562 programs last year, about 11 a week. That’s 414 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 3,819 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Castine uses its library more than almost any town its size
Witherle Memorial Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 9.4 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Castine out-borrows every town next door
At 11 loans per resident, Castine leads the five towns here. The closest is Searsport, at 8.5. Libraries next door ↓
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 Castine’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Castine is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Castine is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Castine near the top nationally; Castine’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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Castine
17.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.7%
12.7% of Castine’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 Castine’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Witherle Memorial Library serves 1,357 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost 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 0.7 time last year, on average.
1,540 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Witherle Memorial Library, 41 School Street, Castine.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Castine? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Castine cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $339K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $290K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $339K 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 1,752 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Castine borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castine | Witherle Memorial Library fine-free | 10.5 | 40 | A+ |
| Searsport | Carver Memorial Library fine-free | 8.5 | 30 | A |
| Islesboro | Alice L. Pendleton Library fine-free | 6.8 | 30 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Brooksville | Brooksville Free Public Library fine-free | 2.7 | 28 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Stockton Springs | Stockton Springs Community Library fine-free | 1.2 | 21 | B |
| Penobscot | None of its own | — | — | A |
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 Castine
Does Castine have a public library?
Yes. Witherle Memorial Library, 41 School Street, serves 1,357 people in and around Castine (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Witherle 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 Castine’s library?
It logged 11.2 visits and lent 10.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Castine’s civic life grade?
A+ Castine is among the top 1% 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 Castine.
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.