Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Whitneyville’s library lends 61 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Whitneyville Public Library serves Whitneyville’s 208 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,010 visits.
Whitneyville’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
1,863 cards for 208 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
95% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 5%. What your card is worth ↓
Whitneyville uses its library more than almost any town its size
Whitneyville Public Library logs 19 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 61 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Whitneyville Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 46% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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 Whitneyville’s civic life grade
Whitneyville 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 →
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Whitneyville Public Library serves 208 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.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
Find it
Whitneyville Public Library, 6 Cross Street, Whitneyville.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Whitneyville? 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 $5.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitneyville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $35K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $189K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $35K 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 1,863 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitneyville | Whitneyville Public Library fine-free | 61.4 | 36 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Machias | Porter Memorial Library fine-free | 5.2 | 31 | A |
| Marshfield | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Roque Bluffs | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Northfield | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Jonesboro | 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 count everyone. Whitneyville’s 4,010 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Whitneyville Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Whitneyville
Does Whitneyville have a public library?
Yes. Whitneyville Public Library, 6 Cross Street, serves Whitneyville’s 208 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Whitneyville Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Whitneyville’s library?
It logged 19.3 visits and lent 61.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Whitneyville’s civic life grade?
Whitneyville 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 Whitneyville.
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.