Mission: The library's mission is to build a city of readers by providing resources and experiences that inspire imagination, curiosity, awareness, and learning.

Programs: Portland public library (ppl) is a system of 5 physical locations: main library, 3 branch libraries and the shared collections management center (scmc), an annex for collections. With annual visitation of over 612,000 people in fy 15 ppl is the most heavily visited public cultural institution in maine. In addition, the virtual site received over 6.0 million hits this year. Ppl is a nonprofit organization, governed by a voluntary board of trustees, administered by a professional staff of 53 fte's and assisted by over 70 volunteers. The library serves portland and cumberland, york and parts of oxford counties (combined population of 492,000). Ppl has 70,000 cardholders and lends 870,000 items from a collection of over 360,000 items, with extensive programs and partnerships serving children and adults.