Photo: Public domain · Public domainGeorgetown’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Laura E. Richards Library serves Georgetown’s 1,091 residents. Last year it lent 1,933 books, movies and e-books and logged 753 visits.
What Georgetown’s library is like
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 ↓
Laura E. Richards Library is used less than most libraries its size
Laura E. Richards Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.7 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 12 hours a week
Laura E. Richards Library keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Albert F. Totman Library in Phippsburg, next door, is open about 38 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
Laura E. Richards Library serves 1,091 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 ↓
Runs on less money than most
Laura E. Richards Library spends $3 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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 Georgetown’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Georgetown is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns. Georgetown is graded on two of the three inputs. Georgetown’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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Georgetown
8.9 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.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Laura E. Richards Library serves 1,091 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,933 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 5,689 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
30 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
14 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 Georgetown last year.
Find it
Laura E. Richards Library, 863 Five Islands Road, Georgetown.
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 $8.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Georgetown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $3,794.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $32K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3,794 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 334 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Georgetown ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southport | Southport Memorial Library fine-free | 13.5 | 25 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Phippsburg | Albert F. Totman Library fine-free | 4.4 | 38 | B+ |
| Georgetown | Laura E. Richards Library fine-free | 1.8 | 12 | B− |
| Arrowsic | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Westport Island | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Woolwich | 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).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Laura E. Richards 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 Georgetown
Does Georgetown have a public library?
Yes. Laura E. Richards Library, 863 Five Islands Road, serves Georgetown’s 1,091 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Laura E. Richards Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Georgetown’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Georgetown’s civic life grade?
B− Georgetown is ahead of 45% 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 Georgetown.
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.