Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainDeer Isle’s library logs 2.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Chase Emerson Memorial Library serves Deer Isle’s 2,135 residents. Last year it lent 6,501 print books and media and logged 5,142 visits.
Deer Isle’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
86% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 14%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 17 hours a week
Chase Emerson Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 17 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Friend Memorial Public Library in Brooklin, next door, is open about 33 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
Chase Emerson Memorial Library serves 2,135 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 ↓
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 Deer Isle’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Deer Isle is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. Deer Isle’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Deer Isle
9.7 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.
7.6%
7.6% of Deer Isle’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 Deer Isle’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Chase Emerson Memorial Library serves 2,135 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.
Books and media off the shelf
6,501 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
151 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 Deer Isle last year.
Find it
Chase Emerson Memorial Library, 17 Main Street, Deer Isle.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Deer Isle? 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 $1.98 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Deer Isle cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $71K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $141K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $71K 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 745 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Deer Isle ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklin | Friend Memorial Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 33 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Swans Island | Swans Island Public Library fine-free | 9.4 | 15 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Stonington | Stonington Public Library fine-free | 7.5 | 22 | A+ |
| Islesboro | Alice L. Pendleton Library fine-free | 6.8 | 30 | — under 1,000 residents |
| North Haven | North Haven Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Deer Isle | Chase Emerson Memorial Library fine-free | 3.0 | 17 | B |
| Brooksville | Brooksville Free Public Library fine-free | 2.7 | 28 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sedgwick | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Deer Isle
Does Deer Isle have a public library?
Yes. Chase Emerson Memorial Library, 17 Main Street, serves Deer Isle’s 2,135 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chase Emerson 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 Deer Isle’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 3.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Deer Isle’s civic life grade?
B Deer Isle is ahead of 64% 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 Deer Isle.
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.