Photo: Nyttend · Public domainFulton’s library logs 1.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Fulton County Public Library serves 6,338 people in and around Fulton. Last year it lent 28K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
What’s behind Fulton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fulton is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns. Fulton is graded on two of the three inputs. Fulton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Among U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($27K–$45K) it does better, ahead of 56%.
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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Fulton
5.1 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.1%
5.1% of Fulton’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.6% in the typical Kentucky 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 Fulton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fulton County Public Library serves 6,338 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fulton County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
28K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
213 programs a year
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
Fulton County Public Library, 312 Main Street, Fulton.
Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fulton County Public Library branch.
New in Fulton? The Handbook →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 $1.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fulton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $294K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $459K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $294K 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 2,598 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Fulton County Public Library serves 6,338 people in and around Fulton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fulton.
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 Fulton
Does Fulton have a public library?
Yes. Fulton County Public Library, 312 Main Street, serves 6,338 people in and around Fulton (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fulton County Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fulton’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fulton’s civic life grade?
C+ Fulton is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Fulton.
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.