Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Houlton’s library lends 2.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Cary Library-Houlton serves 13,660 people in and around Houlton. Last year it lent 41K books, movies and e-books and logged 43K visits.
What Houlton’s library is like
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
33% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 67%. What your card is worth ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Cary Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Today’s library there has 8,300 square feet. The building ↓
Cary Library-Houlton serves more than Houlton
The library’s service area covers 13,660 people in and around Houlton, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Cary Library-Houlton holds 64,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 7% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 90% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Houlton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Houlton is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #50 of 143 in Maine. Houlton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Houlton’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Houlton
4.8 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Houlton’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 Houlton’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1987
Cary Library-Houlton, 107 Main Street, Houlton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Houlton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Cary Library
Cary Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 25, 1987. It is significant for its architecture at the local level.
The Cary Library is the public library of Houlton, Maine, US. It is located at 107 Main Street, in an architecturally distinguished building designed by John Calvin Stevens. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. The library opened on October 12, 1904.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Cary Library-Houlton serves 13,660 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
41K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 64K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
2,873 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Houlton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $265K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $650K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $265K 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 4,904 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houlton | Cary Library-Houlton | 3.0 | 46 | B+ |
| Ludlow | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hodgdon | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Littleton | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| New Limerick | 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 Houlton
Does Houlton have a public library?
Yes. Cary Library-Houlton, 107 Main Street, serves 13,660 people in and around Houlton (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cary Library-Houlton 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 Houlton’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Houlton’s civic life grade?
B+ Houlton is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #50 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 Houlton.
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.