Great Duck Island Light Station · Public domainFrenchboro’s library lends 18 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Frenchboro Public Library serves Frenchboro’s 30 residents. Last year it lent 550 books, movies and e-books and logged 400 visits.
What Frenchboro’s library is like
Frenchboro uses its library more than almost any town its size
Frenchboro Public Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 18 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 94% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Busy on a lean budget
Frenchboro Public Library spends $25 per resident, less than 86% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). It’s still busier than 95% of them. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Frenchboro Public Library serves 30 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 borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 36% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 75%. What your card is worth ↓
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 Frenchboro’s civic life grade
Frenchboro isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
550 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,210 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Frenchboro Public Library serves 30 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
4 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Frenchboro Public Library, 21 High Road, Frenchboro.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Frenchboro? 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 $11.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Frenchboro resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $750.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8,750 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $750 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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 30 people it serves ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Frenchboro ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Harbor | Southwest Harbor Public Library fine-free | 31.7 | 43 | A+ |
| Frenchboro | Frenchboro Public Library fine-free | 18.3 | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| 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 |
| Cranberry Isles | Islesford Library fine-free | 8.5 | 13 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Tremont | Bass Harbor Memorial Library fine-free | 1.4 | 37 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Frenchboro Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Frenchboro
Does Frenchboro have a public library?
Yes. Frenchboro Public Library, 21 High Road, serves Frenchboro’s 30 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Frenchboro Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Frenchboro’s library?
It logged 13.3 visits and lent 18.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Frenchboro’s civic life grade?
Frenchboro isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Frenchboro.
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.