Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainSearsmont’s library runs 106 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Searsmont Town Library serves Searsmont’s 1,449 residents. Last year it lent 4,891 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,002 visits.
Searsmont’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Searsmont Town Library serves 1,449 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
Searsmont Town Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Nearly everyone in Searsmont has a card
1,356 cards for 1,449 people, or 94%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
30% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 70%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Searsmont Town Library spends $22 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Searsmont’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Searsmont is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Searsmont’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Searsmont
3.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.6%
14.6% of Searsmont’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 Searsmont’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Searsmont Town Library serves 1,449 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,891 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
328 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
154 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 Searsmont last year.
Find it
Searsmont Town Library, 37 Main St. South, Searsmont.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Searsmont? 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 $3.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Searsmont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $31K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $95K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $31K 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 1,356 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Searsmont borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Searsmont | Searsmont Town Library fine-free | 3.4 | 19 | B+ |
| Appleton | Mildred Stevens Williams Memorial Library | 1.8 | 13 | C+ |
| Lincolnville | Lincolnville Community Library fine-free | 1.1 | 12 | B+ |
| Morrill | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Belmont | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Montville | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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 Searsmont
Does Searsmont have a public library?
Yes. Searsmont Town Library, 37 Main St. South, serves Searsmont’s 1,449 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Searsmont Town 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 Searsmont’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Searsmont’s civic life grade?
B+ Searsmont is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Searsmont.
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.