Gorham’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Gorham Free Library serves 9,717 people in and around Gorham. Last year it lent 24K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,434 visits.
Gorham’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Gorham Free Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Gorham Free Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, below 94% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.2 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
60% of the 225 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 65 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Gorham Free Library spends $14 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Gorham Free Library serves 9,717 people in and around Gorham, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Gorham’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Gorham is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #224 of 751 in New York. Gorham is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Gorham
3.9 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Gorham’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Gorham’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Gorham Free Library serves 9,717 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Gorham Free Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
24K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,930 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Gorham Free Library, 2664 Main Street, Gorham.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Gorham Free Library branch.
New in Gorham? 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 $2.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gorham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $140K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $359K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $140K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,575 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potter | Mabel D. Blodgett Memorial Library fine-free | 5.1 | 20 | B− |
| Middlesex | Middlesex Public Library fine-free | 0.5 | 20 | C+ |
| Gorham | Gorham Free Library | — | 38 | B+ |
| Canandaigua | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Seneca | None of its own | — | — | C |
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.
- System-wide. Gorham Free Library serves 9,717 people in and around Gorham, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Gorham.
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 Gorham
Does Gorham have a public library?
Yes. Gorham Free Library, 2664 Main Street, serves 9,717 people in and around Gorham (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gorham Free Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Gorham’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Gorham’s civic life grade?
B+ Gorham is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #224 of 751 in New York. 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 Gorham.
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.