Stonington Opera House · Photo: Choess · CC BY-SA 3.0Stonington’s library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Stonington Public Library serves Stonington’s 1,055 residents. Last year it lent 7,875 books, movies and e-books and logged 7,701 visits.
Stonington’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
80% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 20%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Stonington Public Library serves 1,055 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 ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
Stonington Public Library keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. 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 Stonington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Stonington is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. Stonington is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Stonington’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Stonington
13.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.9%
10.9% of Stonington’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 Stonington’s residents live; 2022.
102 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Stonington Public Library serves 1,055 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
7,875 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,644 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
1,465 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, Stonington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Stonington? 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 $1.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stonington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $101K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $146K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $101K 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 757 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Stonington ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isle au Haut | Revere Memorial Library fine-free | 7.5 | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Stonington | Stonington Public Library fine-free | 7.5 | 22 | A+ |
| North Haven | North Haven Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Deer Isle | Chase Emerson Memorial Library fine-free | 3.0 | 17 | 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 Stonington
Does Stonington have a public library?
Yes. Stonington Public Library, 64 Main Street, serves Stonington’s 1,055 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stonington 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 Stonington’s library?
It logged 7.3 visits and lent 7.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Stonington’s civic life grade?
A+ Stonington is ahead of 98% 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 Stonington.
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.