Photo: James H. Fisher, Hancock County Planning Commission; color-corrected by Howcheng · Public domainGouldsboro’s library logs 2.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Dorcas Library serves Gouldsboro’s 1,736 residents. Last year it lent 5,386 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,454 visits.
The short version on Gouldsboro’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
83% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 17%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Dorcas Library serves 1,736 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 ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
Dorcas Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, next door, is open about 41 hours a week. The building ↓
Nearly everyone in Gouldsboro has a card
1,561 cards for 1,736 people, or 90%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
77% of the 110 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 25 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Gouldsboro’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Gouldsboro is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns. Gouldsboro’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Gouldsboro
11.8 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.1%
6.1% of Gouldsboro’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 Gouldsboro’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Dorcas Library serves 1,736 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
5,386 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
642 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
110 programs a year
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Gouldsboro last year.
Find it
Dorcas Library, 28 Main Street, Prospect Harbor.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Gouldsboro? 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 $1.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gouldsboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $51K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $98K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $51K 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 1,561 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Gouldsboro ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steuben | Henry D. Moore Library fine-free | 9.7 | 28 | B+ |
| Bar Harbor | Jesup Memorial Library fine-free | 8.7 | 41 | A+ |
| Winter Harbor | Winter Harbor Public Library fine-free | 7.4 | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Gouldsboro | Dorcas Library fine-free | 3.1 | 19 | B |
| Sullivan | Frenchmans Bay Library fine-free | 1.0 | 16 | B+ |
| Sorrento | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hancock | 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.
- 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 Gouldsboro
Does Gouldsboro have a public library?
Yes. Dorcas Library, 28 Main Street, serves Gouldsboro’s 1,736 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dorcas Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Gouldsboro’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Gouldsboro’s civic life grade?
B Gouldsboro is ahead of 55% 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 Gouldsboro.
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.