Photo: Cishuman · CC BY-SA 4.0Bangor’s library runs 4.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Bangor Public Library serves 19,973 people in and around Bangor. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
Bangor’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Bangor Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Bangor Public Library offered 85 programs last year, 4.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
39% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 34%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 85 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1 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; Bangor Public Library serves 19,973 people in and around Bangor, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bangor’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bangor is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #391 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Bangor is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Bangor’s count of community nonprofits 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 Bangor
3.2 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Bangor’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.0% in the typical Pennsylvania 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 Bangor’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bangor Public Library serves 19,973 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bangor Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,030 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
Bangor Public Library, 39 South Main St., Bangor.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bangor Public Library branch.
New in Bangor? 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 $3.55 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bangor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $149K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $528K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $149K 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 3,511 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangor | Bangor Public Library | — | 43 | B− |
| Washington Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| East Bangor | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Roseto | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. Bangor Public Library serves 19,973 people in and around Bangor, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bangor.
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 Bangor
Does Bangor have a public library?
Yes. Bangor Public Library, 39 South Main St., serves 19,973 people in and around Bangor (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bangor Public 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 Bangor’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bangor’s civic life grade?
B− Bangor is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #391 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. 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 Bangor.
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.