Hippard House · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0Fernandina Beach’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Nassau County Public Library System serves 103,919 people in and around Fernandina Beach. Last year it lent 208K print books and media and logged 116K visits.
What stands out about Nassau County Public Library System
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Fernandina Beach’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fernandina Beach is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #9 of 273 in Florida. Fernandina Beach is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
50 community nonprofits are registered in Fernandina Beach
3.8 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.9%
11.9% of Fernandina Beach’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 Fernandina Beach’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Nassau County Public Library System serves 103,919 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Nassau County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Books and media off the shelf
208K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Fernandina Beach’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 7 kids’ programs 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
Nassau County Public Library System, 25 North 4th Street, Fernandina Beach.
Good at every Nassau County Public Library System branch.
New in Fernandina Beach? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fernandina Beach cardholder borrows.
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 70,316 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Nassau County Public Library System serves 103,919 people in and around Fernandina Beach, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fernandina Beach.
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 Fernandina Beach
Does Fernandina Beach have a public library?
Yes. Nassau County Public Library System, 25 North 4th Street, serves 103,919 people in and around Fernandina Beach (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Nassau County Public Library System fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fernandina Beach’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Fernandina Beach’s civic life grade?
A− Fernandina Beach is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #9 of 273 in Florida. 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 Fernandina Beach.
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.