Photo: Bill Whittaker · CC BY-SA 3.0Fairfield’s library runs 54 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Fairfield Public Library serves Fairfield’s 15,233 residents. Last year it lent 106K print books and media and logged 80K visits.
What stands out about Fairfield’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Fairfield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairfield is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #3 of 138 in Iowa. Fairfield is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Fairfield near the top nationally; Fairfield’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
128 community nonprofits are registered in Fairfield
13.5 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 (22 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.
12.4%
12.4% of Fairfield’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Iowa 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 6 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 all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Fairfield Public Library serves 15,233 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 47 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
106K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 77K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
Find it
Fairfield Public Library, 104 W Adams Ave, Fairfield.
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 $2.78 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $659K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $659K 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 8,284 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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, 104 W Adams Ave, serves Fairfield’s 15,233 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairfield Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fairfield’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 7.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Fairfield’s civic life grade?
A+ Fairfield is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #3 of 138 in Iowa. 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.