Samuel Penney House · Photo: Jehosafatarmbender · CC BY-SA 3.0Mechanic Falls’ library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Mechanic Falls Public Library serves Mechanic Falls’s 3,134 residents. Last year it lent 6,490 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,003 visits.
What Mechanic Falls’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Mechanic Falls Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on seven. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Mechanic Falls Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 59 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 38 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Mechanic Falls Public Library spends $12 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 8% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 86% 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 Mechanic Falls’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mechanic Falls is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #102 of 143 in Maine. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($52K–$87K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Mechanic Falls
3.8 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.3%
10.3% of Mechanic Falls’ 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 Mechanic Falls’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mechanic Falls Public Library serves 3,134 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
6,490 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
514 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
59 programs a year
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 Mechanic Falls last year.
Find it
Mechanic Falls Public Library, 108 Lewiston Street, 3rd Floor, Mechanic Falls.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mechanic 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 $2.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mechanic Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $39K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $104K 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 539 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Mechanic Falls ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Mechanic Falls
Does Mechanic Falls have a public library?
Yes. Mechanic Falls Public Library, 108 Lewiston Street, 3rd Floor, serves Mechanic Falls’ 3,134 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mechanic Falls Public 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 Mechanic Falls’ library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mechanic Falls’ civic life grade?
C+ Mechanic Falls is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #102 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 Mechanic 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.