Photo: Aab254 · CC BY-SA 4.0Fairfield’s library logs 5.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Fairfield Public Library serves Fairfield’s 63,433 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 696K books, movies and e-books and logged 356K visits.
What Fairfield’s library is like
People come to Fairfield Public Library a lot
Fairfield Public Library logs 5.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.7 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
50,000 people came to the library’s 1,734 programs last year: 0.8 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 17 items per child in Fairfield last year. 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.
What’s behind Fairfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairfield is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #30 of 155 in Connecticut. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
298 community nonprofits are registered in Fairfield
4.7 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 (39 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.3%
8.3% of Fairfield’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.5% in the typical Connecticut 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 Fairfield’s residents live; 2022.
About 16 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 Fairfield last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Fairfield Public Library serves 63,433 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 119 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
696K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 231K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
206,496 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 places to borrow in Fairfield
Fairfield Public Library, 1080 Old Post Rd., Fairfield.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fairfield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Fairfield
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.88 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.8M 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 22,909 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fairfield ranks 2nd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westport | Westport Library | 13.3 | 66 | A |
| Fairfield | Fairfield Public Library | 11.0 | 56 | A− |
| Trumbull | Trumbull Library | 8.9 | 60 | B+ |
| Weston | Weston Public Library | 8.4 | 52 | A+ |
| Easton | Easton Public Library fine-free | 7.7 | 45 | B+ |
| Bridgeport | Bridgeport Public Library fine-free | 1.3 | 46 | D− |
| Southport | Pequot Library Association | 0.4 | 48 | — graded as part of its town |
| Staples | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Greens Farms | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Coleytown | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Plattsville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Fairfield
Does Fairfield have a public library?
Yes. Fairfield Public Library, 1080 Old Post Rd., serves Fairfield’s 63,433 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairfield 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 Fairfield’s library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 11.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Fairfield’s civic life grade?
A− Fairfield is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #30 of 155 in Connecticut. 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 Fairfield.
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.