Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMonroe’s library runs 134 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Monroe Community Library serves Monroe’s 945 residents. Last year it lent 2,095 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,787 visits.
Monroe’s library, in brief
Open only about 16 hours a week
Monroe Community Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Monroe Community Library serves 945 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 ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
33% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 67%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
72% of the 127 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 35 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Monroe Community Library spends $3 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). What your card is worth ↓
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 Monroe’s civic life grade
Monroe 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.
Monroe Community Library serves 945 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,095 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 5,057 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
696 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
127 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 Monroe last year.
Find it
Monroe Community Library, 8 Swan Lake Avenue, Monroe.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Monroe? 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 $15.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monroe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $2,636.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $41K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2,636 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 349 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Monroe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe | Monroe Community Library fine-free | 2.2 | 16 | — graded with its twin city |
| Winterport | Winterport Memorial Library fine-free | 1.7 | 24 | B− |
| Frankfort | Waldo Peirce Reading Room fine-free | 1.3 | 14 | C |
| Swanville | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Brooks | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Jackson | 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 Monroe
Does Monroe have a public library?
Yes. Monroe Community Library, 8 Swan Lake Avenue, serves Monroe’s 945 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monroe Community 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 Monroe’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Monroe’s civic life grade?
Monroe 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 Monroe.
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.