Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Wilton’s library runs 44 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Wilton Free Public Library serves Wilton’s 3,872 residents. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
Wilton’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
81% of the 171 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
35% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 65%. What your card is worth ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Goodspeed Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. Today’s library there has 4,770 square feet. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 67% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 70% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 7% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 81% of similar-size libraries. 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.
What’s behind Wilton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Wilton is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #88 of 143 in Maine. Wilton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Wilton
5.4 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.
6.6%
6.6% of Wilton’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 Wilton’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1989
Wilton Free Public Library, 6 Goodspeed Street, Wilton.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Goodspeed Memorial Library
Goodspeed 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 Classical Revival. It was listed as part of Maine Public Libraries MPS.
The Wilton Free Public Library is the public library of Wilton, Maine, United States. It is located at 6 Goodspeed Street, across Wilson Stream from Main Street and just north of the town's central business district. It is located in the Goodspeed Memorial Library, an architecturally distinguished building designed by Harry S. Coombs, which was funded by Agnes Goodspeed and completed in 1916.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Wilton Free Public Library serves 3,872 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
1,078 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
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 Wilton last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wilton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $172K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $242K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $172K 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 2,720 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Wilton ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farmington | Farmington Public Library fine-free | 5.0 | 36 | A− |
| Jay | Jay-Niles Memorial Library fine-free | 5.0 | 31 | C |
| Wilton | Wilton Free Public Library fine-free | 4.0 | 31 | B− |
| Dixfield | Ludden Memorial Library | — | 40 | B− |
| Temple | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Chesterville | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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 Wilton
Does Wilton have a public library?
Yes. Wilton Free Public Library, 6 Goodspeed Street, serves Wilton’s 3,872 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wilton Free Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Wilton’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Wilton’s civic life grade?
B− Wilton is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life, #88 of 143 in Maine. 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 Wilton.
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.