Henry Stuart House · Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0Fairhope’s library logs 7.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Fairhope Public Library serves Fairhope’s 23,859 residents. Last year it lent 206K books, movies and e-books and logged 181K visits.
What Fairhope’s library is like
Nearly everyone in Fairhope has a card
22,569 cards for 23,859 people, or 95%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in Alabama for library use
Fairhope ranks #7 of 71 Alabama towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 7.6 visits per resident, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
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.
What’s behind Fairhope’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairhope is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #5 of 156 in Alabama. Library visits hold 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 →
156 community nonprofits are registered in Fairhope
6.5 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 (28 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Fairhope’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.8% in the typical Alabama 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 Fairhope’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 76 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Fairhope Public Library serves 23,859 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
206K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 80K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
48,358 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Fairhope last year.
Find it
Fairhope Public Library, 501 Fairhope Avenue, Fairhope.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fairhope? 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 $3.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairhope cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 22,569 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairhope | Fairhope Public Library | 8.6 | 52 | A− |
| Daphne | Daphne Public Library | 7.4 | 58 | B− |
| Point Clear | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Fairhope
Does Fairhope have a public library?
Yes. Fairhope Public Library, 501 Fairhope Avenue, serves Fairhope’s 23,859 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairhope 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 Fairhope’s library?
It logged 7.6 visits and lent 8.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Fairhope’s civic life grade?
A− Fairhope is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #5 of 156 in Alabama. 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 Fairhope.
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.