Photo: Lvklock · CC BY-SA 4.0Stockton Springs’ library runs 180 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Stockton Springs Community Library serves Stockton Springs’s 1,597 residents. Last year it lent 1,871 print books and media and logged 3,118 visits.
What Stockton Springs’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
74% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 26%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Stockton Springs Community Library serves 1,597 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 ↓
Nearly everyone in Stockton Springs has a card
1,480 cards for 1,597 people, or 93%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
Stockton Springs Community Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Witherle Memorial Library in Castine, next door, is open about 40 hours a week. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
87% of the 287 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 25 were for children. 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 Stockton Springs’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Stockton Springs is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns. Stockton Springs’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Stockton Springs
6.7 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.
8.3%
8.3% of Stockton Springs’ 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 Stockton Springs’ residents live; 2022.
287 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 Stockton Springs last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Stockton Springs Community Library serves 1,597 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1,871 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 7,676 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Stockton Springs Community Library, 6 Station Street, Stockton Springs.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Stockton Springs? 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 $1.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stockton Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $30K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $53K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $30K 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 1,480 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Stockton Springs ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castine | Witherle Memorial Library fine-free | 10.5 | 40 | A+ |
| Searsport | Carver Memorial Library fine-free | 8.5 | 30 | A |
| Stockton Springs | Stockton Springs Community Library fine-free | 1.2 | 21 | B |
| Verona Island | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Prospect | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Penobscot | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Stockton Springs
Does Stockton Springs have a public library?
Yes. Stockton Springs Community Library, 6 Station Street, serves Stockton Springs’ 1,597 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stockton Springs Community 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 Stockton Springs’ library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 1.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Stockton Springs’ civic life grade?
B Stockton Springs is ahead of 60% 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 Stockton Springs.
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.