Keystone Mineral Springs · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Poland’s library logs 1.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Ricker Memorial Library serves Poland’s 5,956 residents. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
The short version on Poland’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
36% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 64%. What your card is worth ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Ricker Memorial Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
57% of the 249 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 35 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 6% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 85% 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 Poland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Poland is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #117 of 143 in Maine. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($64K–$107K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Poland
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.4%
9.4% of Poland’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 Poland’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ricker Memorial Library serves 5,956 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
1,171 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
249 programs a year
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 Poland last year.
Find it
Ricker Memorial Library, 1211 Maine Street, Poland.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Poland? 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 $1.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Poland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $265K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $306K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $265K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,802 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Poland ranks 3rd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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+ |
| Casco | Casco Public Library fine-free | 2.7 | 28 | B |
| Mechanic Falls | Mechanic Falls Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 24 | C+ |
| Oxford | Freeland Holmes Library fine-free | 0.5 | 16 | C |
| Minot | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| 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.
- 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 Poland
Does Poland have a public library?
Yes. Ricker Memorial Library, 1211 Maine Street, serves Poland’s 5,956 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ricker Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Poland’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Poland’s civic life grade?
C Poland is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #117 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 Poland.
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.