Photo: RootsLilla · CC BY-SA 3.0Gray’s library lends 6.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Gray Public Library serves Gray’s 8,395 residents. Last year it lent 56K books, movies and e-books and logged 18K visits.
What stands out about Gray’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Gray’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Gray is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #97 of 143 in Maine. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
33 community nonprofits are registered in Gray
3.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
8.8%
8.8% of Gray’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 Gray’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Gray Public Library serves 8,395 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
56K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 41K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
4,011 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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 Gray last year.
Find it
Gray Public Library, 5 Hancock Street, Gray.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Gray? 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 $2.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gray cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $410K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $870K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $410K 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 2,453 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Gray ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland | Prince Memorial Library fine-free | 8.0 | 49 | A+ |
| Gray | Gray Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 41 | B− |
| Windham | Windham Public Library fine-free | 4.8 | 46 | B |
| Raymond | Raymond Village Library fine-free | 4.6 | 37 | B |
| New Gloucester | New Gloucester Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 36 | C+ |
| North Yarmouth | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. Gray 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 Gray
Does Gray have a public library?
Yes. Gray Public Library, 5 Hancock Street, serves Gray’s 8,395 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gray Public 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 Gray’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Gray’s civic life grade?
B− Gray is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #97 of 143 in Maine. 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 Gray.
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.