Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station · Photo: Fran Schwanck · CC BY-SA 4.0Swans Island’s library logs 8.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Swans Island Public Library serves Swans Island’s 357 residents. Last year it lent 3,361 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,012 visits.
Swans Island’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
788 cards for 357 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
73% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 27%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 15 hours a week
Swans Island Public Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Friend Memorial Public Library in Brooklin, next door, is open about 33 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
Swans Island Public Library serves 357 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 ↓
Swans Island invests in its library
Swans Island Public Library spends $260 per resident a year, about five times the typical $54 for a library its size. 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 Swans Island’s civic life grade
Swans Island isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Swans Island Public Library serves 357 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,361 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
218 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
22 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Swans Island Public Library, 451 Atlantic Road, Swan's Island.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Swans Island? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Swans Island cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $93K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $57K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $93K 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 788 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Swans Island ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frenchboro | Frenchboro Public Library fine-free | 18.3 | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Brooklin | Friend Memorial Public Library fine-free | 13.7 | 33 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Swans Island | Swans Island Public Library fine-free | 9.4 | 15 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Isle au Haut | Revere Memorial Library fine-free | 7.5 | — | — 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 Swans Island
Does Swans Island have a public library?
Yes. Swans Island Public Library, 451 Atlantic Road, serves Swans Island’s 357 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Swans Island 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 Swans Island’s library?
It logged 8.4 visits and lent 9.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Swans Island’s civic life grade?
Swans Island isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Swans Island.
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.