Photo: IvoShandor · CC BY-SA 3.0Fairbury’s library logs 8.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Dominy Memorial Library serves Fairbury’s 3,633 residents. Last year it lent 39K books, movies and e-books and logged 29K visits.
What Fairbury’s library is like
Fairbury ranks 3rd in Illinois for kids’ borrowing
Out of 30 Illinois towns with a library of their own, Fairbury comes 3rd for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #26 for library use. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 68% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Fairbury last year. Kids & programs ↓
Fairbury uses its library more than almost any town its size
Dominy Memorial Library logs 8.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 9.8 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
34% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 58%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 91 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 50 for ages 0–5. 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 Fairbury’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairbury is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #223 of 754 in Illinois. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Fairbury
4.6 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.9%
5.9% of Fairbury’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois 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 Fairbury’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Fairbury last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Dominy Memorial Library serves 3,633 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
39K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
3,151 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Dominy Memorial Library, 201 South Third Street, Fairbury.
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 $3.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairbury cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $183K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $595K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $183K 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 1,224 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Dominy Memorial Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Fairbury
Does Fairbury have a public library?
Yes. Dominy Memorial Library, 201 South Third Street, serves Fairbury’s 3,633 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dominy Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fairbury’s library?
It logged 8.1 visits and lent 10.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fairbury’s civic life grade?
B+ Fairbury is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #223 of 754 in Illinois. 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 Fairbury.
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.