Heron Neck Light Station · Photo: US Coast Guard · Public domainVinalhaven’s library lends 5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Vinalhaven Public Library serves Vinalhaven’s 1,271 residents. Last year it lent 6,307 print books and media and logged 2,956 visits.
What Vinalhaven’s library is like
More library cards than residents
1,532 cards for 1,271 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
Vinalhaven Public Library serves 1,271 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 29 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
Vinalhaven Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. Today’s library there has 2,540 square feet. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
75% of the 87 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 36 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Vinalhaven Public Library holds 23,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Vinalhaven’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Vinalhaven is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns. Vinalhaven’s 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Vinalhaven
18.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
8.1%
8.1% of Vinalhaven’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 Vinalhaven’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Vinalhaven Public Library serves 1,271 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.
Books and media off the shelf
6,307 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 23K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
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 Vinalhaven last year.
A National Register landmark since 1989
Vinalhaven Public Library, 6 Carver Street, Vinalhaven.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Vinalhaven? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Vinalhaven Public Library
Vinalhaven Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 5, 1989. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Prairie School. It was listed as part of Maine Public Libraries MPS.
The Vinalhaven Public Library is the public library serving the island community of Vinalhaven, Maine. It is located at 6 Carver Street in downtown Vinalhaven, in a small architecturally distinguished Prairie School building built in 1906 with financial support from Andrew Carnegie. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
More about the building →What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Vinalhaven cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $115K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $111K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $115K 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 1,532 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Vinalhaven ranks 2nd of 3 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 |
| Vinalhaven | Vinalhaven Public Library fine-free | 5.0 | 29 | B+ |
| North Haven | North Haven Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Matinicus Isle plantation | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Vinalhaven Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Vinalhaven
Does Vinalhaven have a public library?
Yes. Vinalhaven Public Library, 6 Carver Street, serves Vinalhaven’s 1,271 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Vinalhaven 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 Vinalhaven’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 5.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Vinalhaven’s civic life grade?
B+ Vinalhaven 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 Vinalhaven.
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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.