Photo: PhilipC · CC BY 2.0Portland’s library logs 5.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Portland Public Library serves Portland’s 69,104 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 522K books, movies and e-books and logged 380K visits.
What Portland’s library is like
People come to Portland Public Library a lot
Portland Public Library logs 5.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Four places to borrow in Portland
Portland Public Library runs four locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
Portland invests in its library
Portland Public Library spends $86 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. 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 Portland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Portland is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #16 of 143 in Maine. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Portland’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
609 community nonprofits are registered in Portland
8.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (61 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 19 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.7%
11.7% of Portland’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 Portland’s residents live; 2022.
A year at Portland Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Portland Public Library serves 69,104 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
522K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 357K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
140,494 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 13 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 Portland last year.
5 places to borrow in Portland
Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, Portland.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Portland? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Portland
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Portland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.9M 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 34,961 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Portland ranks 5th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chebeague Island | Chebeague Island Library fine-free | 13.7 | 26 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cape Elizabeth | Thomas Memorial Library fine-free | 11.7 | 47 | A+ |
| Falmouth | Falmouth Memorial Library | 9.8 | 47 | A− |
| Long Island | Long Island Community Library fine-free | 8.5 | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Portland | Portland Public Library fine-free | 7.5 | — | A |
| South Portland | South Portland Public Library | 6.8 | 79 | C+ |
| Westbrook | Walker Memorial Library fine-free | 2.9 | 42 | 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 Portland
Does Portland have a public library?
Yes. Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, serves Portland’s 69,104 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Portland 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 Portland’s library?
It logged 5.5 visits and lent 7.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Portland’s civic life grade?
A Portland is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #16 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 Portland.
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.