Stetson Union Church · Photo: Hikeramc · CC BY-SA 3.0Stetson’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Stetson Public Library serves Stetson’s 1,217 residents. Last year it lent 880 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,421 visits.
The short version on Stetson’s library
Stetson Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Stetson Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $3 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 14 hours a week
Stetson Public Library keeps short hours: about 14 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Newport Public Library in Newport, next door, is open about 37 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
Stetson Public Library serves 1,217 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 ↓
Runs on less money than most
Stetson Public Library spends $3 per resident, less than 99% 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 Stetson’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Stetson is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns. Stetson’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$95K) 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Stetson
4.3 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.3%
7.3% of Stetson’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 Stetson’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Stetson Public Library serves 1,217 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
880 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,272 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
12 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 Stetson last year.
Find it
Stetson Public Library, 70 Village Road, Stetson.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Stetson? 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 $4.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stetson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $3,927.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $17K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3,927 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 669 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. 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.
- 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 Stetson
Does Stetson have a public library?
Yes. Stetson Public Library, 70 Village Road, serves Stetson’s 1,217 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 14 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stetson Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Stetson’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Stetson’s civic life grade?
C Stetson is ahead of 31% 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 Stetson.
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.