Photo: Mark Boutilier · CC BY 2.0West Paris’ library runs 322 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
West Paris Public Library serves West Paris’s 1,790 residents. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
The short version on West Paris’s library
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
West Paris Public Library ran 576 programs last year, about 11 a week. That’s 322 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Busy on a lean budget
West Paris Public Library spends $32 per resident, less than 79% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). It’s still busier than 73% of them. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
West Paris Public Library serves 1,790 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 19 hours a week
West Paris Public Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Paris Public Library in Paris, next door, is open about 51 hours a week. The building ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Arthur L. Mann Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. Today’s library there has 2,542 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 West Paris’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, West Paris is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; West Paris’ 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in West Paris
2.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
7.9%
7.9% of West Paris’ 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 West Paris’ residents live; 2022.
About 3 kids’ programs 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 West Paris last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
West Paris Public Library serves 1,790 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
287 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1989
West Paris Public Library, 226 Main Street, West Paris.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in West Paris? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Arthur L. Mann Memorial Library
Mann, Arthur L., Memorial 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 Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals. It was listed as part of Maine Public Libraries MPS.
The Arthur L. Mann Memorial Library is the public library of West Paris, Maine. It is located in Main Street in the town center, in a building that resembles a small castle. The architecturally distinctive building was designed by the Lewiston firm of Gibbs & Pulsifer, and was built in 1926 as a gift from Lewis Mann in honor of his son Arthur. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average West Paris cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $56K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $193K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $56K 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 853 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
West Paris ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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 West Paris
Does West Paris have a public library?
Yes. West Paris Public Library, 226 Main Street, serves West Paris’ 1,790 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is West Paris 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 West Paris’ library?
It logged 6.3 visits and lent 6.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is West Paris’ civic life grade?
B− West Paris is ahead of 52% 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 West Paris.
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.