Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Saco’s library logs 5.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Dyer Library serves Saco’s 20,960 residents. Last year it lent 109K print books and media and logged 114K visits.
What stands out about Saco’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Saco’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Saco is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #48 of 143 in Maine. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
83 community nonprofits are registered in Saco
4.0 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.3%
8.3% of Saco’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 Saco’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Dyer Library serves 20,960 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
109K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 64K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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 Saco last year.
Find it
Dyer Library, 371 Main Street, Saco.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Saco? 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 $2.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Saco cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $716K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $716K 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 14,600 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Saco ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarborough | Scarborough Public Library fine-free | 8.4 | 51 | B+ |
| Old Orchard Beach | Libby Memorial Library fine-free | 5.4 | 45 | B− |
| Saco | Dyer Library fine-free | 5.2 | 46 | B+ |
| Biddeford | Mcarthur Public Library fine-free | 4.1 | 52 | B− |
| Buxton | West Buxton Public Library Association fine-free | 0.2 | 12 | C− |
| Dayton | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Saco
Does Saco have a public library?
Yes. Dyer Library, 371 Main Street, serves Saco’s 20,960 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dyer 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 Saco’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 5.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Saco’s civic life grade?
B+ Saco is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #48 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 Saco.
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.