Clary Mill · Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Whitefield’s library runs 148 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Whitefield Library serves Whitefield’s 2,477 residents. Last year it lent 6,907 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,645 visits.
The short version on Whitefield’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
56% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 44%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 14 hours a week
Whitefield Library keeps short hours: about 14 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Whitefield Library serves 2,477 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 ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Whitefield Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, below 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Whitefield Library spends $21 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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 Whitefield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Whitefield is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns. Whitefield’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$92K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 Whitefield
5.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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.
7.4%
7.4% of Whitefield’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 Whitefield’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Whitefield Library serves 2,477 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,907 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,991 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
34 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Whitefield last year.
Find it
Whitefield Library, 1 Arlington Lane, Whitefield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Whitefield? 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 $2.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitefield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $53K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $127K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $53K 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 608 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. 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 Whitefield
Does Whitefield have a public library?
Yes. Whitefield Library, 1 Arlington Lane, serves Whitefield’s 2,477 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 14 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Whitefield 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 Whitefield’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Whitefield’s civic life grade?
C+ Whitefield is ahead of 36% 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 Whitefield.
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.