Photo: Jon Platek · CC BY-SA 3.0Rumford’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Rumford Public Library serves Rumford’s 6,768 residents. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,300 visits.
Rumford’s library, in brief
Rumford Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Rumford Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Rumford Public Library offered 26 programs last year, 3.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Rumford Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. Today’s library there has 6,182 square feet. The building ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Rumford Public Library holds 32,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Rumford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rumford is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #126 of 143 in Maine. Rumford’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($29K–$48K) 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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Rumford
4.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
7.0%
7.0% of Rumford’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 Rumford’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1989
Rumford Public Library, 56 Rumford Ave., Rumford.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rumford? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Rumford Public Library
Rumford 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 Late Victorian and Romanesque. It was listed as part of Maine Public Libraries MPS.
The Rumford Public Library is a library in Rumford, Maine. The building it is in was designed by Maine architect John Calvin Stevens and was built with a funding grant from Andrew Carnegie in 1903. The architecturally distinguished building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
More about the building →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.
Rumford Public Library serves 6,768 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
1,501 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
26 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 Rumford last year.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rumford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $264K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $188K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $264K 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 4,835 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Rumford ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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. Rumford 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 Rumford
Does Rumford have a public library?
Yes. Rumford Public Library, 56 Rumford Ave., serves Rumford’s 6,768 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rumford 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 Rumford’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Rumford’s civic life grade?
C Rumford is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #126 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 Rumford.
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.