Fairview Heights’ library logs 5.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Fairview Heights Public Library serves Fairview Heights’s 16,706 residents. Last year it lent 63K print books and media and logged 92K visits.
What stands out about Fairview Heights’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Fairview Heights’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairview Heights is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #293 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 →
59 community nonprofits are registered in Fairview Heights
3.5 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 (29 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.
6.7%
6.7% of Fairview Heights’ 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 Fairview Heights’ residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Fairview Heights Public Library serves 16,706 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Books and media off the shelf
63K 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 Fairview Heights’ library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 48K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
About 2 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.
Find it
Fairview Heights Public Library, 10017 Bunkum Road, Fairview Heights.
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 $1.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairview Heights cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $695K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $695K 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 2,336 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fairview Heights ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| O'Fallon | O'Fallon Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 61 | B |
| Fairview Heights | Fairview Heights Public Library | 3.8 | 54 | B− |
| Caseyville Township | Fairview Heights Public Library | 3.8 | 54 | C+ |
| Canteen Township | Fairmont City Library Center fine-free | 2.7 | 46 | D |
| Belleville | Belleville Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 60 | C |
| Caseyville | Caseyville Public Library District fine-free | 1.1 | 54 | C− |
| East St. Louis | East St. Louis Public Library | — | 58 | C− |
| East St. Louis Township | East St. Louis Public Library | — | 58 | — graded with its twin city |
| Swansea | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| St. Clair Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Fairview Heights Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’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 Fairview Heights
Does Fairview Heights have a public library?
Yes. Fairview Heights Public Library, 10017 Bunkum Road, serves Fairview Heights’ 16,706 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairview Heights Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fairview Heights’ library?
It logged 5.5 visits and lent 3.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Fairview Heights’ civic life grade?
B− Fairview Heights is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life, #293 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 Fairview Heights.
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.