Seawall Campground · Photo: Suekoehler · CC BY-SA 4.0Southwest Harbor’s library logs 30 visits per resident, the eighth-highest of 3,790 U.S. town libraries
Southwest Harbor Public Library serves Southwest Harbor’s 1,824 residents. Last year it lent 58K books, movies and e-books and logged 54K visits.
Southwest Harbor’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
3,577 cards for 1,824 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
90% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 10%. What your card is worth ↓
Southwest Harbor uses its library more than almost any town its size
Southwest Harbor Public Library logs 30 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 22 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 98% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Southwest Harbor out-borrows every town next door
At 32 loans per resident, Southwest Harbor leads the six towns here. The closest is Mount Desert, at 19. Libraries next door ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 44% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 78 items per child in Southwest Harbor last year. Kids & programs ↓
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 Southwest Harbor’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Southwest Harbor is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. All three inputs put Southwest Harbor near the top nationally; library visits rank highest.
Southwest Harbor Public Library logged 29.7 visits per resident in FY2024, #8 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Southwest Harbor
11.0 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.0%
13.0% of Southwest Harbor’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 Southwest Harbor’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Southwest Harbor Public Library serves 1,824 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
58K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 44K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
18,074 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Southwest Harbor last year.
Find it
Southwest Harbor Public Library, 338 Main Street, Southwest Harbor.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Southwest Harbor? 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 $1.88 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Southwest Harbor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $588K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $588K 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 3,577 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Southwest Harbor borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Harbor | Southwest Harbor Public Library fine-free | 31.7 | 43 | A+ |
| Mount Desert | Northeast Harbor Library fine-free | 18.7 | 53 | A+ |
| Northeast Harbor | Northeast Harbor Library fine-free | 18.7 | 53 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Frenchboro | Frenchboro Public Library fine-free | 18.3 | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cranberry Isles | Islesford Library fine-free | 8.5 | 13 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Tremont | Bass Harbor Memorial Library fine-free | 1.4 | 37 | 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.
- Visits count everyone. Southwest Harbor’s 54,209 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Southwest Harbor
Does Southwest Harbor have a public library?
Yes. Southwest Harbor Public Library, 338 Main Street, serves Southwest Harbor’s 1,824 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Southwest Harbor 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 Southwest Harbor’s library?
It logged 29.7 visits and lent 31.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Its visits per resident rank #8 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare.
What is Southwest Harbor’s civic life grade?
A+ Southwest Harbor is among the top 1% 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 Southwest Harbor.
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.