Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Kennebunk’s library lends 5.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Kennebunk Free Library serves 16,386 people in and around Kennebunk. Last year it lent 106K books, movies and e-books and logged 60K visits.
Kennebunk’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
35% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 65%. What your card is worth ↓
Kennebunk Free Library serves more than Kennebunk
The library’s service area covers 16,386 people in and around Kennebunk, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
55% of the 512 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 172 were for children. 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 Kennebunk’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kennebunk is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #24 of 143 in Maine. Kennebunk is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Kennebunk’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 →
68 community nonprofits are registered in Kennebunk
5.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.5%
9.5% of Kennebunk’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 Kennebunk’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Kennebunk Free Library serves 16,386 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 40 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
106K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 45K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
16,231 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.
Find it
Kennebunk Free Library, 112 Main Street, Kennebunk.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Kennebunk? 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 $1.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kennebunk cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 6,442 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Kennebunk borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kennebunk | Kennebunk Free Library fine-free | 6.4 | 50 | A |
| Wells | Wells Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 39 | A− |
| Kennebunkport | Louis T. Graves Memorial Library | 5.5 | 42 | A |
| Arundel | 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 Kennebunk
Does Kennebunk have a public library?
Yes. Kennebunk Free Library, 112 Main Street, serves 16,386 people in and around Kennebunk (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kennebunk Free 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 Kennebunk’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 6.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Kennebunk’s civic life grade?
A Kennebunk is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 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 Kennebunk.
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.