Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainPatten’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Veterans Memorial Library serves Patten’s 1,157 residents. Last year it lent 2,534 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,579 visits.
What Patten’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Veterans Memorial Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Veterans Memorial Library serves 1,157 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 23 hours a week. 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 ↓
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 Patten’s civic life grade
Patten 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Veterans Memorial Library serves 1,157 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
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
2,534 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,654 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
25 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Patten last year.
Find it
Veterans Memorial Library, 61 Shin Pond Road, Patten.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Patten? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Patten cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $56K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $46K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $56K 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 257 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patten | Veterans Memorial Library fine-free | 2.2 | 23 | — graded with its twin city |
| Crystal | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Stacyville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Mount Chase | 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 Patten
Does Patten have a public library?
Yes. Veterans Memorial Library, 61 Shin Pond Road, serves Patten’s 1,157 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Veterans Memorial Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Patten’s library?
It logged 1.4 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 Patten’s civic life grade?
Patten 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 Patten.
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.