Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainHampden’s library lends 7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Edythe Dyer Community Library serves Hampden’s 7,975 residents. Last year it lent 56K print books and media and logged 24K visits.
The short version on Hampden’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 15 items per child in Hampden last year. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Edythe Dyer Community Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Four of the five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Hampden out-borrows every town next door
At 7 loans per resident, Hampden leads the six towns here. The closest is Bangor, at 6.5. Libraries next door ↓
Most programs are for young children
65% of the 378 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3 a week for ages 0–5. 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.
What’s behind Hampden’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hampden is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #61 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 Hampden
4.2 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.5%
10.5% of Hampden’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 Hampden’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 Hampden last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Edythe Dyer Community Library serves 7,975 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
56K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Edythe Dyer Community Library, 269 Main Road North, Hampden.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hampden? 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 $2.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hampden cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $327K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $841K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $327K 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 2,210 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Hampden borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampden | Edythe Dyer Community Library | 7.0 | 51 | B+ |
| Bangor | Bangor Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 49 | A |
| Brewer | Brewer Public Library | 4.1 | 43 | B+ |
| Orrington | Orrington Public Library fine-free | 2.7 | 32 | B |
| Winterport | Winterport Memorial Library fine-free | 1.7 | 24 | B− |
| Newburgh | Gary W. Woolson Community Library fine-free | 0.4 | — | B− |
| Hermon | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Hampden
Does Hampden have a public library?
Yes. Edythe Dyer Community Library, 269 Main Road North, serves Hampden’s 7,975 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Edythe Dyer Community Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hampden’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 7.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hampden’s civic life grade?
B+ Hampden is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #61 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 Hampden.
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.