Photo: Tim Pierce · CC BY-SA 4.0Mercer’s library runs 137 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Mercer Shaw Library serves Mercer’s 714 residents. Last year it lent 753 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,884 visits.
Mercer’s library, in brief
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
45% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 55%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 15 hours a week
Mercer Shaw Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Mercer Shaw Library serves 714 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 ↓
Programs lean toward adults
100% of the 98 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. Kids & programs ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Mercer Shaw Library lends 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, fewer than 90% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Mercer’s civic life grade
Mercer 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mercer Shaw Library serves 714 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Shaw Public Library - Mercer
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
753 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,091 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
98 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Mercer last year.
Find it
Shaw Public Library - Mercer, 1015 Beech Hill Rd. Suite B, Mercer.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mercer? 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 $1.70 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mercer cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $12K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $21K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $12K 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 336 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Mercer ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Sharon | Jim Ditzler Memorial Library fine-free | 1.6 | 17 | C |
| Norridgewock | Norridgewock Public Library fine-free | 1.1 | 24 | C− |
| Mercer | Shaw Public Library - Mercer fine-free | 1.1 | 15 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Starks | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Smithfield | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Rome | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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 Mercer
Does Mercer have a public library?
Yes. Mercer Shaw Library, 1015 Beech Hill Rd. Suite B, serves Mercer’s 714 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mercer Shaw Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mercer’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mercer’s civic life grade?
Mercer 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 Mercer.
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.