Joseph H. Underwood House · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Fayette’s library runs 89 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Underwood Memorial Library serves Fayette’s 1,237 residents. Last year it lent 2,317 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,939 visits.
What Fayette’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Fayette’s library lends 1.9 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Wayne at 8. Libraries next door ↓
Open only about 14 hours a week
Underwood Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 14 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Underwood Memorial Library serves 1,237 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people Underwood Memorial Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
68% of the 110 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 32 were for children. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Fayette’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fayette is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns. Fayette’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Underwood Memorial Library spends $14 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$74K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Fayette
4.3 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.
4.8%
4.8% of Fayette’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.0% in the typical Maine 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 Fayette’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Underwood Memorial Library serves 1,237 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
2,317 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,953 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
61 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
110 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Fayette last year.
Find it
Underwood Memorial Library, 2006 Main Street, Fayette.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fayette? 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 $2.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fayette cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $17K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $47K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $17K 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 228 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fayette ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne | Cary Memorial Library-Wayne fine-free | 8.0 | 17 | A− |
| Mount Vernon | Dr. Shaw Memorial Library fine-free | 4.6 | 15 | A |
| Readfield | Readfield Community Library fine-free | 4.5 | 22 | B |
| Livermore Falls | Treat Memorial Library fine-free | 2.1 | 25 | D |
| Fayette | Underwood Memorial Library fine-free | 1.9 | 14 | C− |
| Chesterville | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Fayette
Does Fayette have a public library?
Yes. Underwood Memorial Library, 2006 Main Street, serves Fayette’s 1,237 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 14 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Underwood Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fayette’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Fayette’s civic life grade?
C− Fayette is ahead of 20% 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 Fayette.
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.