Photo: Euku:⇄ · CC BY-SA 3.0Fort Myers Beach’s library logs 0 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Fort Myers Beach Public Library serves Fort Myers Beach’s 41,658 residents.
The short version on Fort Myers Beach’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
65% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 34%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 10% of the people Fort Myers Beach Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. 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 Fort Myers Beach’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fort Myers Beach is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #137 of 273 in Florida. Fort Myers Beach is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Fort Myers Beach’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($68K–$114K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Fort Myers Beach
3.0 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Fort Myers 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 Fort Myers Beach’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Fort Myers Beach Public Library serves 41,658 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at Fort Myers Beach Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 1,818 items borrowed, so we leave the count out.
Find it
Fort Myers Beach Public Library, 2755 Estero Boulevard, Fort Myers Beach.
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 Fort Myers Beach cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2M.
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 4,076 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Myers Beach | Fort Myers Beach Public Library | — | — | C− |
| Bonita Springs | Bonita Springs Public Library | — | 46 | D |
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.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
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 Fort Myers Beach
Does Fort Myers Beach have a public library?
Yes. Fort Myers Beach Public Library, 2755 Estero Boulevard, serves Fort Myers Beach’s 41,658 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Fort Myers Beach Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fort Myers Beach’s library?
It logged 0.0 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Fort Myers Beach’s civic life grade?
C− Fort Myers Beach is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #137 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 Fort Myers 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.