Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Island Falls’ library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Katahdin Public Library serves Island Falls’s 1,225 residents. Last year it lent 1,902 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,627 visits.
The short version on Island Falls’s library
Open only about 10 hours a week
Katahdin Public Library keeps short hours: about 10 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Katahdin Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Katahdin Public Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $16 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Katahdin Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Katahdin Public Library serves 1,225 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 9% of the people Katahdin Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Island Falls’ civic life grade
Island Falls 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Katahdin Public Library serves 1,225 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,902 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Island Falls last year.
Find it
Katahdin Public Library, 20 Library Street, Island Falls.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Island Falls? 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 $1.55 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Island Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $20K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $30K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $20K 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 110 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Island Falls | Katahdin Public Library fine-free | 1.6 | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sherman | Sherman Public Library fine-free | 1.1 | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Crystal | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Dyer Brook | 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 Island Falls
Does Island Falls have a public library?
Yes. Katahdin Public Library, 20 Library Street, serves Island Falls’ 1,225 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 10 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Katahdin Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Island Falls’ library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Island Falls’ civic life grade?
Island Falls 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 Island Falls.
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.