Center Meeting House and Common · Photo: Tim Pierce · CC BY-SA 3.0Oxford’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Freeland Holmes Library serves Oxford’s 4,372 residents. Last year it lent 2,000 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,760 visits.
Oxford’s library, in brief
Freeland Holmes Library is used less than most libraries its size
Freeland Holmes Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $6 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Oxford’s library lends 0.5 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Paris at 12. Libraries next door ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Freeland Holmes Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Paris Public Library in Paris, next door, is open about 51 hours a week. The building ↓
Runs on less money than most
Freeland Holmes Library spends $6 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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.
What’s behind Oxford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Oxford is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #122 of 143 in Maine. Oxford’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($44K–$73K) 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Oxford
4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
7.4%
7.4% of Oxford’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 Oxford’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Freeland Holmes Library serves 4,372 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,000 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 51K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Oxford last year.
Find it
Freeland Holmes Library, 109 Pleasant Street, Oxford.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Oxford? 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 $1.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oxford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $25K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $32K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $25K 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 3,458 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Oxford ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris | Paris Public Library fine-free | 12.0 | 51 | B |
| Norway | Norway Memorial Library fine-free | 5.9 | 39 | B+ |
| Poland | Ricker Memorial Library | 3.3 | 50 | C |
| Mechanic Falls | Mechanic Falls Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 24 | C+ |
| Oxford | Freeland Holmes Library fine-free | 0.5 | 16 | C |
| Hebron | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Otisfield | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Freeland Holmes Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Oxford
Does Oxford have a public library?
Yes. Freeland Holmes Library, 109 Pleasant Street, serves Oxford’s 4,372 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Freeland Holmes Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Oxford’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Oxford’s civic life grade?
C Oxford is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #122 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 Oxford.
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.