Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Jay’s library lends 4.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Jay-Niles Memorial Library serves Jay’s 4,654 residents. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,270 visits.
The short version on Jay’s library
More library cards than residents
6,422 cards for 4,654 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Jay out-borrows every town next door
At 5 loans per resident, Jay leads the four towns here. The closest is Wilton, at 4. Libraries next door ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Jay-Niles Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Today’s library there has 5,766 square feet. The building ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 5% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 83% 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 Jay’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Jay is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns, #128 of 143 in Maine. Jay’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$88K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Jay
4.3 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.
5.4%
5.4% of Jay’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 Jay’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Jay-Niles Memorial Library serves 4,654 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 23K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
1,069 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Jay last year.
A National Register landmark since 1987
Jay-Niles Memorial Library, 983 Main Street, Jay.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Jay? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Jay-Niles Memorial Library
Jay-Niles Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Mar 13, 1987. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Colonial Revival.
The Jay-Niles Memorial Library or Niles Memorial Library is the public library of Jay, Maine. It is located on Maine State Route 4 in an architecturally distinguished Colonial Revival building, built in 1916-18 as a memorial to Veranus and Mehitable Niles and the town's Civil War soldiers. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jay cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $201K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $354K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $201K 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 6,422 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Jay borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay | Jay-Niles Memorial Library fine-free | 5.0 | 31 | C |
| Wilton | Wilton Free Public Library fine-free | 4.0 | 31 | B− |
| Livermore Falls | Treat Memorial Library fine-free | 2.1 | 25 | D |
| Livermore | Livermore Public Library fine-free | 2.0 | 11 | C− |
| Canton | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Chesterville | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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 Jay
Does Jay have a public library?
Yes. Jay-Niles Memorial Library, 983 Main Street, serves Jay’s 4,654 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jay-Niles Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Jay’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Jay’s civic life grade?
C Jay is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns on civic life, #128 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 Jay.
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.