Photo: Lmichaud · CC BY-SA 3.0Winthrop’s library runs 133 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Charles M. Bailey Public Library serves Winthrop’s 6,201 residents. Last year it lent 45K books, movies and e-books and logged 44K visits.
Winthrop’s library, in brief
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Charles M. Bailey Public Library ran 826 programs last year, about 16 a week. That’s 133 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 13,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Charles M. Bailey Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985. Today’s library there has 8,400 square feet. The building ↓
Winthrop invests in its library
Charles M. Bailey Public Library spends $93 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) comes from local taxes. 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.
What’s behind Winthrop’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Winthrop is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #54 of 143 in Maine. Library visits hold 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 →
31 community nonprofits are registered in Winthrop
5.0 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.4%
6.4% of Winthrop’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 Winthrop’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 Winthrop last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Charles M. Bailey Public Library serves 6,201 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
45K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
10,530 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 1985
Charles M. Bailey Public Library, 39 Bowdoin Street, Winthrop.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Winthrop? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Charles M. Bailey Library
Bailey, Charles M., Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 20, 1985. It is significant for its education at the local level.
The Charles M. Bailey Public Library is the public library serving Winthrop, Maine. It is known as the Bailey Public Library and is commonly referred to as the Bailey Library. It is located at 39 Bowdoin Street, near the town center. It was officially established by the town on November 4, 1916, and opened to the public on December 2, 1916.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Winthrop cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $576K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $803K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $576K 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 2,346 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Winthrop ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne | Cary Memorial Library-Wayne fine-free | 8.0 | 17 | A− |
| Winthrop | Charles M. Bailey Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 37 | B+ |
| Readfield | Readfield Community Library fine-free | 4.5 | 22 | B |
| Monmouth | Cumston Public Library fine-free | 3.1 | 25 | B− |
| Manchester | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| West Gardiner | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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 Winthrop
Does Winthrop have a public library?
Yes. Charles M. Bailey Public Library, 39 Bowdoin Street, serves Winthrop’s 6,201 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Charles M. Bailey 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 Winthrop’s library?
It logged 7.2 visits and lent 7.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Winthrop’s civic life grade?
B+ Winthrop is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #54 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 Winthrop.
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.