Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainBlue Hill’s library runs 78 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Blue Hill Public Library serves Blue Hill’s 795 residents. Last year it lent 2,908 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,203 visits.
What Blue Hill’s library is like
A small-town library
Blue Hill Public Library serves 795 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 42 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 ↓
Nearly everyone in Blue Hill has a card
717 cards for 795 people, or 90%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans, more per resident than at 63% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 59%. 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 Blue Hill’s civic life grade
Blue Hill 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Blue Hill Public Library serves 795 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
41% of borrowing is digital
2,908 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,192 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
62 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 Blue Hill last year.
Find it
Blue Hill Public Library, 317 West Gage Street, Blue Hill.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Blue Hill? 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 $1.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Blue Hill cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $47K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $48K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $47K 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 717 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Blue Hill
Does Blue Hill have a public library?
Yes. Blue Hill Public Library, 317 West Gage Street, serves Blue Hill’s 795 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Blue Hill 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 Blue Hill’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Blue Hill’s civic life grade?
Blue Hill 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 Blue Hill.
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.