Photo: Gkuriger · CC BY-SA 4.0Chebeague Island’s library logs 18 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Chebeague Island Library serves Chebeague Island’s 394 residents. Last year it lent 5,413 books, movies and e-books and logged 7,237 visits.
What Chebeague Island’s library is like
More library cards than residents
1,673 cards for 394 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
77% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 23%. What your card is worth ↓
Chebeague Island uses its library more than almost any town its size
Chebeague Island Library logs 18 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Chebeague Island Library ran 130 programs last year, about 3 a week. That’s 330 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Chebeague Island Library serves 394 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 26 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 ↓
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 Chebeague Island’s civic life grade
Chebeague Island 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 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Chebeague Island Library serves 394 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
5,413 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
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 Chebeague Island last year.
Find it
Chebeague Island Library, 247 South Road, Unit 3, Chebeague Island.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Chebeague Island? 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 $1.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chebeague Island cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $72K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $89K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $72K 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 1,673 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Chebeague Island borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chebeague Island | Chebeague Island Library fine-free | 13.7 | 26 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Freeport | Freeport Community Library fine-free | 11.9 | 40 | A+ |
| Yarmouth | Merrill Memorial Library fine-free | 9.9 | 43 | A+ |
| Cumberland | Prince Memorial Library fine-free | 8.0 | 49 | A+ |
| Portland | Portland Public Library fine-free | 7.5 | — | A |
| Harpswell | Orrs Island Library fine-free | 0.5 | 20 | 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.
- Visits count everyone. Chebeague Island’s 7,237 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Chebeague Island
Does Chebeague Island have a public library?
Yes. Chebeague Island Library, 247 South Road, Unit 3, serves Chebeague Island’s 394 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 26 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chebeague Island Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Chebeague Island’s library?
It logged 18.4 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 Chebeague Island’s civic life grade?
Chebeague Island 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 Chebeague Island.
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.