St. Mary's-By-The-Sea · Photo: Suekoehler · CC BY-SA 4.0Mount Desert’s library logs 20 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Northeast Harbor Library serves Mount Desert’s 2,190 residents. Last year it lent 41K books, movies and e-books and logged 45K visits.
The short version on Mount Desert’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
85% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 15%. What your card is worth ↓
More library cards than residents
2,757 cards for 2,190 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Mount Desert uses its library more than almost any town its size
Northeast Harbor Library logs 20 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 16 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 75 items per child in Mount Desert last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
82% of the 447 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 48 for ages 0–5. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Mount Desert’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Desert is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Mount Desert is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Mount Desert near the top nationally; Mount Desert’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 →
54 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Desert
32.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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.
19.8%
19.8% of Mount Desert’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 Mount Desert’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Northeast Harbor Library serves 2,190 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
41K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 44K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
7,055 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Mount Desert last year.
2 places to borrow in Mount Desert
Northeast Harbor Library, 1 Joy Road, Northeast Harbor.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mount Desert? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Mount Desert
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Desert cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $666K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $694K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $666K 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 2,757 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Mount Desert ranks 2nd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Harbor | Southwest Harbor Public Library fine-free | 31.7 | 43 | A+ |
| Mount Desert | Northeast Harbor Library fine-free | 18.7 | 53 | A+ |
| Northeast Harbor | Northeast Harbor Library fine-free | 18.7 | 53 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Blue Hill | Blue Hill Public Library fine-free | 13.5 | 53 | B+ |
| Bar Harbor | Jesup Memorial Library fine-free | 8.7 | 41 | A+ |
| Cranberry Isles | Islesford Library fine-free | 8.5 | 13 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Tremont | Bass Harbor Memorial Library fine-free | 1.4 | 37 | C+ |
| Surry | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
| Trenton | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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.
- Visits count everyone. Mount Desert’s 44,873 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Mount Desert
Does Mount Desert have a public library?
Yes. Northeast Harbor Library, 1 Joy Road, serves Mount Desert’s 2,190 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northeast Harbor 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 Mount Desert’s library?
It logged 20.5 visits and lent 18.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mount Desert’s civic life grade?
A+ Mount Desert is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Mount Desert.
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.