Photo: Jonathunder · CC BY-SA 3.0Coleraine’s library lends 19 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Coleraine Public Library serves Coleraine’s 1,997 residents. Last year it lent 41K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
What Coleraine’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 65% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 41 items per child in Coleraine last year. Kids & programs ↓
Coleraine is a town of borrowers
Coleraine Public Library lends 19 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 97% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Coleraine Public Library serves 1,997 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 39 hours a week. 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Coleraine Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. Today’s library there has 4,000 square feet. The building ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 5% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 47% of similar-size libraries. The print collection works hard: each item went out about 2.2 times last year. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Coleraine’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Coleraine is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. Coleraine is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Coleraine
4.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
43 programs a year
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 Coleraine last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Coleraine Public Library serves 1,997 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
41K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
2,189 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 1980
Coleraine Public Library, 203 Cole Street, Coleraine.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Coleraine? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Coleraine Carnegie Library
Coleraine Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 17, 1980. It is significant for its industry, architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Neo-Classical.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $4.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Coleraine cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $129K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $570K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $129K 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 1,195 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coleraine | Coleraine Public Library fine-free | 20.3 | 39 | A |
| Bovey | Bovey Public Library fine-free | 4.6 | 24 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Grand Rapids | Grand Rapids Area Library fine-free | — | 35 | A |
| Trout Lake Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| La Prairie | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Taconite | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Arbo Township | 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.
- 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 Coleraine
Does Coleraine have a public library?
Yes. Coleraine Public Library, 203 Cole Street, serves Coleraine’s 1,997 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Coleraine 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 Coleraine’s library?
It logged 7.1 visits and lent 20.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Coleraine’s civic life grade?
A Coleraine is ahead of 88% 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 Coleraine.
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.