Shaker Village · Photo: Jamie Ribisi-Braley · CC BY-SA 3.0New Gloucester’s library logs 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
New Gloucester Public Library serves New Gloucester’s 5,776 residents. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,776 visits.
The short version on New Gloucester’s library
Every town next door borrows more
New Gloucester’s library lends 2.9 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Gray at 6.6. Libraries next door ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 53% 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 New Gloucester’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, New Gloucester is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #101 of 143 in Maine. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in New Gloucester
3.3 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.6%
10.6% of New Gloucester’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 New Gloucester’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
New Gloucester Public Library serves 5,776 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
2,526 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 New Gloucester last year.
Find it
New Gloucester Public Library, 379 Intervale Road, New Gloucester.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in New Gloucester? 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 $1.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Gloucester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $174K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $273K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $174K 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 2,603 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
New Gloucester ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gray | Gray Public Library fine-free | 6.6 | 41 | B− |
| Auburn | Auburn Public Library fine-free | 5.2 | 53 | B |
| Raymond | Raymond Village Library fine-free | 4.6 | 37 | B |
| Poland | Ricker Memorial Library | 3.3 | 50 | C |
| New Gloucester | New Gloucester Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 36 | C+ |
| Pownal | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Durham | 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 New Gloucester
Does New Gloucester have a public library?
Yes. New Gloucester Public Library, 379 Intervale Road, serves New Gloucester’s 5,776 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is New Gloucester 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 New Gloucester’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is New Gloucester’s civic life grade?
C+ New Gloucester is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #101 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 New Gloucester.
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.