Sanford’s library lends 2.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Deposit Free Library serves 3,376 people in and around Sanford. Last year it lent 10K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,969 visits.
The short version on Sanford’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
33% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 65%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 106 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.4 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Deposit Free Library serves 3,376 people in and around Sanford, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sanford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sanford is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. Sanford is graded on two of the three inputs. Sanford’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Sanford
7.9 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.1%
7.1% of Sanford’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 Sanford’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.
Deposit Free Library serves 3,376 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Deposit Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
10K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,225 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs 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
Deposit Free Library, 159 Front Street, Deposit.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Deposit Free Library branch.
New in Sanford? 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 $4.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sanford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $87K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $389K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $87K 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 1,129 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afton | Afton Free Library | 2.8 | 30 | C+ |
| Colesville | Nineveh Public Library of Colesville Township | 0.8 | 34 | D |
| Sanford | Deposit Free Library | — | 36 | A− |
| Masonville | Masonville Branch Library fine-free | — | 23 | C+ |
| Deposit | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Windsor | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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. Deposit Free Library serves 3,376 people in and around Sanford, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sanford.
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 Sanford
Does Sanford have a public library?
Yes. Deposit Free Library, 159 Front Street, serves 3,376 people in and around Sanford (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Deposit 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 Sanford’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sanford’s civic life grade?
A− Sanford is ahead of 76% 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 Sanford.
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.