College Club Inn · Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0Searsport’s library runs 82 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Carver Memorial Library serves Searsport’s 2,658 residents. Last year it lent 22K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
Searsport’s library, in brief
Top 10% in Maine for kids’ borrowing
Searsport ranks #7 of 97 Maine towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Carver Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1993. Today’s library there has 4,968 square feet. The building ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
26% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 74%. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 4% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 77% 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 Searsport’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Searsport is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #21 of 143 in Maine. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Searsport
6.0 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.0%
12.0% of Searsport’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 Searsport’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Carver Memorial Library serves 2,658 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
22K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
1,003 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Searsport last year.
A National Register landmark since 1993
Carver Memorial Library, 12 Union Street, Searsport.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Searsport? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carver Memorial Library
Carver Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct 14, 1993. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Tudor Revival and Classical Revival. It was listed as part of Maine Public Libraries MPS.
Carver Memorial Library is the public library of Searsport, Maine. It is located at 12 Union Street in the town center, in a 1910 Tudor Revival building donated in memory of Captain George A. Carver, a Searsport native. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Searsport cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $172K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $377K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $172K 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 1,106 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Searsport ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | Belfast Free Library fine-free | 14.0 | 48 | A+ |
| Castine | Witherle Memorial Library fine-free | 10.5 | 40 | A+ |
| Searsport | Carver Memorial Library fine-free | 8.5 | 30 | A |
| Islesboro | Alice L. Pendleton Library fine-free | 6.8 | 30 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Stockton Springs | Stockton Springs Community Library fine-free | 1.2 | 21 | B |
| Prospect | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Swanville | 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 Searsport
Does Searsport have a public library?
Yes. Carver Memorial Library, 12 Union Street, serves Searsport’s 2,658 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carver Memorial 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 Searsport’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 8.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Searsport’s civic life grade?
A Searsport is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life, #21 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 Searsport.
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.