Photo: NewTestLeper79 · CC BY-SA 4.0Yarmouth’s library lends 8.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Merrill Memorial Library serves Yarmouth’s 9,026 residents. Last year it lent 89K books, movies and e-books and drew 3,516 people to its programs.
What Yarmouth’s library is like
Top 10% in Maine for borrowing
Yarmouth ranks #8 of 98 Maine towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 8.7 items per resident, more than at 88% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
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 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 16 items per child in Yarmouth last year. 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.
What’s behind Yarmouth’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Yarmouth is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns, #11 of 143 in Maine. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Yarmouth is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Yarmouth’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
The survey’s stand-in for Yarmouth’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 →
80 community nonprofits are registered in Yarmouth
8.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.9%
10.9% of Yarmouth’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 Yarmouth’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Merrill Memorial Library serves 9,026 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 40 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
89K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 44K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
10,640 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 Yarmouth last year.
Find it
Merrill Memorial Library, 215 Main Street, Yarmouth.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Yarmouth? 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 $1.88 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Yarmouth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $719K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $719K 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 6,000 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Yarmouth ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chebeague Island | Chebeague Island Library fine-free | 13.7 | 26 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Freeport | Freeport Community Library fine-free | 11.9 | 40 | A+ |
| Yarmouth | Merrill Memorial Library fine-free | 9.9 | 43 | A+ |
| Cumberland | Prince Memorial Library fine-free | 8.0 | 49 | A+ |
| North Yarmouth | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Merrill Memorial Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
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 Yarmouth
Does Yarmouth have a public library?
Yes. Merrill Memorial Library, 215 Main Street, serves Yarmouth’s 9,026 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Merrill Memorial 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 Yarmouth’s library?
It lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 266 programs that drew 3,516 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Yarmouth’s civic life grade?
A+ Yarmouth is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on civic life, #11 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 Yarmouth.
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.