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Ludden Memorial Library

Dixfield’s library runs 8.4 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size

Ludden Memorial Library serves 5,455 people in and around Dixfield. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,080 visits.

42 Main Street, Dixfield 04224 · about 40 hours a week

B⁻Civic lifeAhead of 48% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.

Directions (207) 562-8838 What’s a card worth?

Borrowed a year

18K

3.3 per resident

Visits a year

9,080

1.7 per resident · Below typical (3)

Programs & events

about 1 a week · 392 attended

Cardholders

53%

2,879 cards

Open

40 hrs

a week at this branch

In brief

What Dixfield’s library is like

Few programs for a library this size

Ludden Memorial Library offered 46 programs last year, 8.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓

Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf

Only 4% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 87% of similar-size libraries. 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; Ludden Memorial Library serves 5,455 people in and around Dixfield, and its numbers cover all of them.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Dixfield’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dixfield is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. Dixfield is graded on two of the three inputs. Dixfield’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

B⁻

Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Dixfield’s overall grade.

–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figure BCommunity nonprofits4.3 per 1,000 residents · ME towns 4.4 · U.S. 3.7 C⁺Volunteering6.9% of adults 25–44 · ME towns 9.0% · U.S. 7.5%

All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 48%

FewerMore

U.S. towns with similar incomes, $53K–$88K (9,060)Ahead of 45%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Dixfield is small (2,396 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

10 community nonprofits are registered in Dixfield

4.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture41.78 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24

Youth, sports & recreation20.70 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52

Civic groups, clubs & veterans10.35 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74

Human services00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59

Education21.04 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43

Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16

Environment & animals00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17

Other10.43 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

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.

Volunteering

6.9%

6.9% of Dixfield’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 Dixfield’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.7 visits · typical 3Lower than 75%

Borrowing per resident 3.2 print items · typical 3.8Lower than 58%

Digital borrowing 0.1 e-items · typical 1Lower than 87%

Kids’ borrowing 1.3 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 59%

Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.5Bottom 10%

Programs offered 8.4 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Lower than 87%

Cardholders 53% of residents · typical 42%Higher than 65%

Spending $31 per resident · typical $43Lower than 68%

Fewer per residentMore per resident

Size group

Ludden Memorial Library serves 5,455 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ludden Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.

9,080

visits

1.7 per resident

18K

loans, print + digital

3.3 per resident

programs & events

392 attended

2,879

library cards

53% of people served

Every open hour9items borrowed

Every week8people at a program

Every week175visits

2 staff (full-time equivalent)7 public computers

What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

Books & media (adults) 58%Kids’ books & media 38%E-books, audio & streaming 4%

From your couch

726 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

46 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Dixfield →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–534

Ages 6–110

Teens0

Adults12

All ages0

Little ones

0.7

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

6,987

kids’ books & media borrowed

392

people at programs

programs

The building

Find it

Ludden Memorial Library, 42 Main Street, Dixfield.

Directions (207) 562-8838

hours open a week

5,160

square feet

With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ludden Memorial Library branch.

New in Dixfield? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.64 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dixfield cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…

Books$17 each

Kids’ books$12 each

E-books & audio$15 each

Movies & music$4 each

Programs & classes$10 a program

Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session

Your card saves you about

$204

a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it

$31 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $170K.

Local taxes 98%Gifts & other 2%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $278K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $170K 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 2,879 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

MexicoPeruCarthageWiltonCantonDixfield

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system

Town	Library	Loans per resident	Hours	Civic life
Wilton	Wilton Free Public Library fine-free	4.0	31	B⁻
Mexico	Mexico Free Public Library fine-free	0.9	23	C⁺
Dixfield	Ludden Memorial Library	—	40	B⁻
Peru	None of its own	—	—	C
Carthage	None of its own	—	—	— under 1,000 residents
Canton	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).

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

System-wide. Ludden Memorial Library serves 5,455 people in and around Dixfield, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dixfield.

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 Dixfield

Does Dixfield have a public library?

Yes. Ludden Memorial Library, 42 Main Street, serves 5,455 people in and around Dixfield (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Ludden 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 Dixfield’s library?

It logged 1.7 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Dixfield’s civic life grade?

B⁻ Dixfield 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 Dixfield.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

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.

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