Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township’s library runs 144 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Fairmont Public Library serves 590 people in and around Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township. Last year it lent 3,825 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,182 visits.
The short version on Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township’s library
A small-town library
Fairmont Public Library serves 590 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 34 hours a week. 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 ↓
Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township invests in its library
Fairmont Public Library spends $174 per resident a year, about three times the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns. Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township
6.6 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.2%
6.2% of Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical Nebraska 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 Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $103K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $66K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $103K 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 284 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Fairmont Public Library serves 590 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,825 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
745 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
85 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.
2 places to borrow in Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township
Fairmont Public Library, 600 F Street, Fairmont.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township | Fairmont Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 34 | B |
| West Blue Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Madison Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township
Does Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township have a public library?
Yes. Fairmont Public Library, 600 F Street, serves 590 people in and around Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairmont 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 Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township’s civic life grade?
B Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township is ahead of 60% 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 Exeter-Fairmont Consolidated Township.
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.