Dexter Grist Mill · Photo: HalstynGuenther · CC BY-SA 4.0Dexter’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Abbott Memorial Library serves 8,891 people in and around Dexter. Last year it lent 9,650 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,401 visits.
The short version on Dexter’s library
Abbott Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Abbott Memorial Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Abbott Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978. Today’s library there has 6,046 square feet. The building ↓
Abbott Memorial Library serves more than Dexter
The library’s service area covers 8,891 people in and around Dexter, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Abbott Memorial Library holds 25,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Dexter’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dexter is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #64 of 143 in Maine. Dexter is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Dexter
4.0 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.8%
8.8% of Dexter’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 Dexter’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1978
Abbott Memorial Library, 1 Church Street, Dexter.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Dexter? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Abbott Memorial Library
Abbott Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 20, 1978. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Renaissance Revival.
Abbott Memorial Library is the public library of Dexter, Maine. It is located at 1 Church Street, in an architecturally sophisticated Renaissance Revival structure, built in 1894 as a gift from George Amos Abbott, a local mill owner. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Abbott Memorial Library serves 8,891 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
9,650 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
952 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dexter cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $160K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $165K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $160K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,832 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dexter | Abbott Memorial Library | 1.1 | 39 | B+ |
| Corinna | Stewart Free Library | 1.1 | 20 | C+ |
| Garland | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Ripley | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sangerville | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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 Dexter
Does Dexter have a public library?
Yes. Abbott Memorial Library, 1 Church Street, serves 8,891 people in and around Dexter (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Abbott Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Dexter’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Dexter’s civic life grade?
B+ Dexter is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #64 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 Dexter.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.