Moore, Henry D., Parish House and Library · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0Steuben’s library logs 8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Henry D. Moore Library serves Steuben’s 1,152 residents. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,248 visits.
What Steuben’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
83% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 17%. What your card is worth ↓
Steuben out-borrows every town next door
At 9.7 loans per resident, Steuben leads the four towns here. The closest is Gouldsboro, at 3.1. Libraries next door ↓
More library cards than residents
1,187 cards for 1,152 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 ↓
A small-town library
Henry D. Moore Library serves 1,152 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 28 hours a week. 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Henry D. Moore Parish House and Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2001. Today’s library there has 2,500 square feet. The building ↓
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 Steuben’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Steuben is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; Steuben’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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Steuben
2.2 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.1%
10.1% of Steuben’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 Steuben’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Henry D. Moore Library serves 1,152 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
572 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
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Steuben last year.
A National Register landmark since 2001
Henry D. Moore Library, 22 Village Road, Steuben.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Steuben? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Henry D. Moore Parish House and Library
Moore, Henry D., Parish House and Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 29, 2001. It is significant for its architecture, recreation and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century American Movements.
The Henry D. Moore Parish House and Library is an historic library and community meeting hall at 22 Village Road in Steuben, Maine. Built in 1911 and enlarged in 2007, it is a notable local example of a mix of Colonial Revival and Craftsman styles, and is the only known work in Maine of Philadelphia architect Isaac Parsell. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Steuben cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $90K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $186K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $90K 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 1,187 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Steuben borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steuben | Henry D. Moore Library fine-free | 9.7 | 28 | B+ |
| Gouldsboro | Dorcas Library fine-free | 3.1 | 19 | B |
| Milbridge | Milbridge Public Library fine-free | 2.3 | 40 | A− |
| Cherryfield | Cherryfield Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 20 | 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 Steuben
Does Steuben have a public library?
Yes. Henry D. Moore Library, 22 Village Road, serves Steuben’s 1,152 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Henry D. Moore 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 Steuben’s library?
It logged 8.0 visits and lent 9.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Steuben’s civic life grade?
B+ Steuben is ahead of 69% 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 Steuben.
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.