Bangor Public Library
Bangor Public Library is a nonprofit public library based in Bangor (Penobscot County), Maine, serving a legal service area of 31,628 residents from a single building. Among the 228 profiled systems in Maine, it ranks first for print volumes, second for operating spending, third for population served and third for physical checkouts.
Among the 964 profiled systems serving 25,000 to 49,999 residents, it ranks first for print volumes per resident. Against the median system of its size class, it records 2.2 times the paid staff per resident and 2.2 times the operating spending per resident.
Bangor against the 964 systems of its size class
The Bangor building
The single building covers 60,000 square feet, 1.90 square feet per resident against a median of 0.74 for the size class. It is open 49.1 hours a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangor Public Library | Central library | Bangor | 49.1 | 60,000 |
Bangor in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 184,828
- Physical checkouts
- 205,799
- …of children's materials
- 78,446
- Registered users
- 50,603
- Program sessions
- 573
- Program attendance
- 14,823
- Print volumes
- 444,478
- Audio items (physical)
- 3,573
- Video items (physical)
- 4,565
- Public computers
- 30
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 2,554
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 32.9
- Operating spending
- $2.9 million
- …on books and other materials
- $228,361
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Bangor gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $3 million, or $95.75 per resident. The local-government share sits 8 percentage points below the combined share for the 228 profiled systems in Maine. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Bangor since FY 2019
Visits were 22% below the FY 2019 count of 236,238 (size-class median: −28%). Physical checkouts moved 29% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Bangor programs
Programs for adults drew 51% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 26 people each.
Nonprofit association libraries of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, two record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Monroeville Public Library in Pennsylvania.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabethtown Public Library | Elizabethtown, PA | 31,985 | 4.61 | 5.66 | $32.34 |
| Hoyt Library | Kingston, PA | 31,831 | 1.25 | 2.77 | $18.97 |
| Howard Whittemore Memorial Library | Naugatuck, CT | 31,820 | 2.53 | 1.40 | $25.09 |
| Monroeville Public Library | Monroeville, PA | 31,741 | 6.06 | 9.44 | $70.42 |
| Shippensburg Public Library | Shippensburg, PA | 31,554 | 6.00 | 6.09 | $22.50 |
| Adamstown Area Library | Adamstown, PA | 31,510 | 1.90 | 4.73 | $12.53 |
Nearest in size within Maine
- North Gorham Public Library · Gorham · 29,167 residents
- Auburn Public Library · Auburn · 27,590 residents
- Curtis Memorial Library · Brunswick · 27,468 residents
- South Portland Public Library · South Portland · 26,840 residents