Caleb R. Ayer House · Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Cornish’s library lends 6.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Bonney Memorial Library serves Cornish’s 1,568 residents. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,767 visits.
What Cornish’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
72% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 28%. What your card is worth ↓
Cornish out-borrows every town next door
At 6.8 loans per resident, Cornish leads the six towns here. The closest is Limerick, at 4.4. Libraries next door ↓
More library cards than residents
1,588 cards for 1,568 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 ↓
A small-town library
Bonney Memorial Library serves 1,568 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
Bonney Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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 Cornish’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cornish is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; Cornish’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Cornish
3.3 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Cornish’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 Cornish’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bonney Memorial Library serves 1,568 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
153 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 Cornish last year.
Find it
Bonney Memorial Library, 36 Main Street, Cornish.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Cornish? 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 $2.73 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cornish cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $68K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $186K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $68K 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 1,588 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Cornish 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cornish | Bonney Memorial Library fine-free | 6.8 | 21 | B− |
| Limerick | Limerick Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 29 | C− |
| Limington | Davis Memorial Library fine-free | 1.9 | 29 | C |
| Baldwin | Brown Memorial Library - Baldwin fine-free | 1.0 | 15 | B+ |
| Hiram | Soldiers Memorial Library fine-free | 0.8 | 19 | B |
| Parsonsfield | Kezar Falls Circulating Library fine-free | 0.4 | 15 | 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 Cornish
Does Cornish have a public library?
Yes. Bonney Memorial Library, 36 Main Street, serves Cornish’s 1,568 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bonney Memorial Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cornish’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 6.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Cornish’s civic life grade?
B− Cornish is ahead of 48% 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 Cornish.
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.