Photo: Public domain · Public domainFayette’s library lends 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Fayette County Memorial Library serves 16,118 people in and around Fayette. Last year it lent 35K books, movies and e-books and drew 1,896 people to its programs.
What Fayette’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
85% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 6%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
94% of the 71 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 32 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Fayette County Memorial Library offered 71 programs last year, 4.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. 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; Fayette County Memorial Library serves 16,118 people in and around Fayette, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fayette’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fayette is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #34 of 156 in Alabama. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Fayette is graded on two of the three inputs. Fayette’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
The survey’s stand-in for Fayette’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
Among U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($27K–$46K) it does better, ahead of 57%.
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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Fayette
5.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
4.4%
4.4% of Fayette’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 Fayette’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Fayette County Memorial Library serves 16,118 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fayette County Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
35K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,263 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
Fayette County Memorial Library, 326 Temple Avenue North, Fayette.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fayette County Memorial Library branch.
New in Fayette? 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 $1.99 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fayette cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $272K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $542K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $272K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 6,533 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Fayette County Memorial Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Fayette County Memorial Library serves 16,118 people in and around Fayette, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fayette.
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 Fayette
Does Fayette have a public library?
Yes. Fayette County Memorial Library, 326 Temple Avenue North, serves 16,118 people in and around Fayette (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fayette County Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fayette’s library?
It lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 71 programs that drew 1,896 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Fayette’s civic life grade?
C+ Fayette is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #34 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 Fayette.
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.