Photo: Bjoertvedt · CC BY-SA 3.0Fremont’s library lends 16 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Fremont Area District Library serves 13,885 people in and around Fremont. Last year it lent 253K books, movies and e-books and logged 60K visits.
Fremont’s library, in brief
A system of heavy borrowers
Fremont Area District Library lends 16 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 98% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 46% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
18,000 people came to the system’s 449 programs last year: 1.3 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries. 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; Fremont Area District Library serves 13,885 people in and around Fremont, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fremont’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fremont is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #78 of 697 in Michigan. Fremont is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Fremont
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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.2%
14.2% of Fremont’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 12.4% in the typical Michigan 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 Fremont’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Fremont Area District Library serves 13,885 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 86 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fremont Area District Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
253K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
26,386 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Fremont Area District Library, 104 East Main Street, Fremont.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fremont Area District Library branch.
New in Fremont? 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 $3.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fremont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 3,394 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fremont | Fremont Area District Library fine-free | — | 56 | A |
| Sheridan Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Dayton Township | 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.
- System-wide. Fremont Area District Library serves 13,885 people in and around Fremont, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fremont.
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 Fremont
Does Fremont have a public library?
Yes. Fremont Area District Library, 104 East Main Street, serves 13,885 people in and around Fremont (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fremont Area District 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 Fremont’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 18.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Fremont’s civic life grade?
A Fremont is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #78 of 697 in Michigan. 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 Fremont.
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.