Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Paris’ library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Paris Public Library serves Paris’s 5,367 residents. Last year it lent 64K books, movies and e-books and logged 29K visits.
What Paris’s library is like
Paris ranks 3rd in Maine for borrowing
Out of 98 Maine towns with a library of their own, Paris comes 3rd for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #3 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 39 items per child in Paris last year. Kids & programs ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Paris Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. Today’s library there has 5,050 square feet. The buildings ↓
Paris out-borrows every town next door
At 12.0 loans per resident, Paris leads the six towns here. The closest is South Paris, at 12.0. Libraries next door ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 116 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 50 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.
What’s behind Paris’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Paris is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #74 of 143 in Maine. Library visits hold the grade up; Paris’ count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Paris
2.8 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.6%
8.6% of Paris’ 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 Paris’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Paris Public Library serves 5,367 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
64K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 59K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
5,452 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 Paris last year.
A National Register landmark since 1989
Paris Public Library, 37 Market Square, South Paris.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Paris? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Paris Public Library
Paris Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 5, 1989. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Colonial Revival. It was listed as part of Maine Public Libraries MPS.
The Public Library of Paris, Maine, is located at 37 Market Square in the town of South Paris, Maine. The original portion of its building, a Colonial Revival brick structure built in 1926, was one of the last designs of the Portland architect John Calvin Stevens, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
More about the building →Other libraries in Paris
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Paris cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $252K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $952K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $252K 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 2,661 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Paris borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. 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 |
| South Paris | Paris Public Library fine-free | 12.0 | 51 | — graded as part of its town |
| West Paris | West Paris Public Library fine-free | 6.1 | 19 | B− |
| Norway | Norway Memorial Library fine-free | 5.9 | 39 | B+ |
| Buckfield | Zadoc Long Free Library fine-free | 1.4 | 30 | B |
| Oxford | Freeland Holmes Library fine-free | 0.5 | 16 | C |
| Hebron | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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. Paris Public 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 Paris
Does Paris have a public library?
Yes. Paris Public Library, 37 Market Square, serves Paris’ 5,367 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Paris 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 Paris’ library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 12.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Paris’ civic life grade?
B Paris is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life, #74 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 Paris.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.