Gallison Memorial Library · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Harrington’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Gallison Memorial Library serves Harrington’s 981 residents. Last year it lent 930 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,149 visits.
What Harrington’s library is like
More library cards than residents
1,200 cards for 981 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Gallison Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Gallison Memorial Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Gallison Memorial Library serves 981 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
Gallison Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Milbridge Public Library in Milbridge, next door, is open about 40 hours a week. The building ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
32% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 68%. 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 Harrington’s civic life grade
Harrington isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Gallison Memorial Library serves 981 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Gallison Memorial Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
930 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
13 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 Harrington last year.
A National Register landmark since 2001
Gallison Memorial Library, 11 Center Street, Harrington.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Harrington? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Gallison Memorial Library
Gallison Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 11, 2001. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Colonial Revival.
Gallison Memorial Library is the public library of Harrington, Maine. It is located at 1292 Main Street (United States Route 1) in Harrington's rural village center, in a small architecturally distinguished Colonial Revival brick building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
More about the building →What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Harrington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $39K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $21K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $39K 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 1,200 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Harrington ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milbridge | Milbridge Public Library fine-free | 2.3 | 40 | A− |
| Cherryfield | Cherryfield Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 20 | A+ |
| Harrington | Gallison Memorial Library fine-free | 0.9 | 19 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Addison | Mayhew Library Assn fine-free | 0.5 | 9 | C+ |
| Columbia | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Harrington
Does Harrington have a public library?
Yes. Gallison Memorial Library, 11 Center Street, serves Harrington’s 981 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gallison Memorial Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Harrington’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Harrington’s civic life grade?
Harrington isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Harrington.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.