Photo: Troy R. Bennett · CC BY-SA 4.0Harpswell’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Orrs Island Library serves Harpswell’s 5,034 residents. Last year it lent 2,463 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,309 visits.
The short version on Harpswell’s library
Orrs Island Library is used less than most libraries its size
Orrs Island Library records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Harpswell’s library lends 0.5 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Chebeague Island at 14. Libraries next door ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
40% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 60%. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Orrs Island Library offered 24 programs last year, 4.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. 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 Harpswell’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Harpswell is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #91 of 143 in Maine. Harpswell’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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Harpswell
8.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Harpswell’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 Harpswell’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Orrs Island Library serves 5,034 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,463 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
24 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 Harpswell last year.
2 places to borrow in Harpswell
Orrs Island Library, 1699 Harpswell Island Road, Orrs Island.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Harpswell? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Harpswell
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Harpswell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $75K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $52K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $75K 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 993 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Harpswell ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chebeague Island | Chebeague Island Library fine-free | 13.7 | 26 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Freeport | Freeport Community Library fine-free | 11.9 | 40 | A+ |
| Brunswick | Curtis Memorial Library fine-free | 11.3 | 61 | A+ |
| Phippsburg | Albert F. Totman Library fine-free | 4.4 | 38 | B+ |
| Harpswell | Orrs Island Library fine-free | 0.5 | 20 | B− |
| West Bath | 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.
- 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 Harpswell
Does Harpswell have a public library?
Yes. Orrs Island Library, 1699 Harpswell Island Road, serves Harpswell’s 5,034 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Orrs Island Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Harpswell’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Harpswell’s civic life grade?
B− Harpswell is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #91 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 Harpswell.
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.