Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainOrleans’ library runs 201 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Cordelia B Preston Memorial Library serves 333 people in and around Orleans. Last year it lent 4,432 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,785 visits.
The short version on Orleans’s library
Open only about 17 hours a week
Cordelia B Preston Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 17 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Cordelia B Preston Memorial Library serves 333 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 Orleans has a card
320 cards for 333 people, or 96%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Cordelia Bennett Preston Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2021. Today’s library there has 1,500 square feet. The building ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 29% of all loans. 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 Orleans’ civic life grade
Orleans 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 →
67 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Cordelia B Preston Memorial Library serves 333 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
4,432 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,760 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
1,265 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 2021
Cordelia B. Preston Memorial Library, 510 South Orleans Avenue, Orleans.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Orleans? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Cordelia Bennett Preston Memorial Library
Cordelia Bennett Preston Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Feb 24, 2021. It is significant for its recreation and education at the local level.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.70 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Orleans cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $41K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $70K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $41K 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 320 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Cordelia B Preston Memorial Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Orleans
Does Orleans have a public library?
Yes. Cordelia B Preston Memorial Library, 510 South Orleans Avenue, serves 333 people in and around Orleans (the survey’s count) and is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cordelia B Preston 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 Orleans’ library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 13.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Orleans’ civic life grade?
Orleans 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 Orleans.
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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.