U.S. Inspection Station-Fort Fairfield, Maine · Photo: wbaron · CC BY-SA 3.0Fort Fairfield’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Fort Fairfield Public Library serves Fort Fairfield’s 3,338 residents. Last year it lent 3,313 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,584 visits.
Fort Fairfield’s library, in brief
Fort Fairfield Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Fort Fairfield Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
39% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 61%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
Fort Fairfield Public Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library in Presque Isle, next door, is open about 54 hours a week. The building ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Fort Fairfield Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989. Today’s library there has 7,392 square feet. The building ↓
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 Fort Fairfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fort Fairfield is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #124 of 143 in Maine. Fort Fairfield’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$89K) 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Fort Fairfield
5.1 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.3%
6.3% of Fort Fairfield’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 Fort Fairfield’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1989
Fort Fairfield Public Library, 339 Main Street, Fort Fairfield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fort Fairfield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Fort Fairfield Public Library
Fort Fairfield Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 5, 1989. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival. It was listed as part of Maine Public Libraries MPS.
The Fort Fairfield Public Library, located at 339 Main Street, is the public library of Fort Fairfield, Maine, United States. Fort Fairfield had a private library as early as 1880. It became a town-supported library in 1894 with a circulation of 300 books. In 1911 the town received a grant of $10,000 from Andrew Carnegie - making it one of the seventeen Carnegie libraries in the state of Maine.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fort Fairfield Public Library serves 3,338 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,313 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
384 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
97 programs a year
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 Fort Fairfield last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fort Fairfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $61K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $65K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $61K 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 975 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fort Fairfield ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limestone | Robert A. Frost Memorial Library | 5.8 | 31 | B |
| Presque Isle | Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library fine-free | 3.1 | 54 | B+ |
| Fort Fairfield | Fort Fairfield Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 21 | C |
| Caribou | Caribou Public Library | — | 39 | B− |
| Easton | 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 Fort Fairfield
Does Fort Fairfield have a public library?
Yes. Fort Fairfield Public Library, 339 Main Street, serves Fort Fairfield’s 3,338 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fort Fairfield Public 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 Fort Fairfield’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fort Fairfield’s civic life grade?
C Fort Fairfield is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #124 of 143 in Maine. 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 Fort 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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.