Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0East Millinocket’s library lends 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
East Millinocket Public Library serves East Millinocket’s 1,568 residents. Last year it lent 920 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,025 visits.
East Millinocket’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
100% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
East Millinocket Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
East Millinocket Public Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $3 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 15 hours a week
East Millinocket Public Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
East Millinocket Public 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 ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 83% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind East Millinocket’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, East Millinocket is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
East Millinocket Public Library spends $3 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($32K–$53K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in East Millinocket
1.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of East Millinocket’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 East Millinocket’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
East Millinocket Public Library serves 1,568 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
920 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 3,865 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
52 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in East Millinocket last year.
Find it
East Millinocket Public Library, 53 Main Street, East Millinocket.
Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in East Millinocket? 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 $3.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average East Millinocket cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $5,400.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $20K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5,400 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 600 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Millinocket | East Millinocket Public Library | 0.6 | 15 | D |
| Medway | 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 East Millinocket
Does East Millinocket have a public library?
Yes. East Millinocket Public Library, 53 Main Street, serves East Millinocket’s 1,568 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is East Millinocket Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is East Millinocket’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 0.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is East Millinocket’s civic life grade?
D East Millinocket is ahead of 10% 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 East Millinocket.
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.