Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainFairfield’s library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Fairfield Public Library serves Fairfield’s 333 residents. Last year it lent 131 books, movies and e-books and logged 512 visits.
What Fairfield’s library is like
Fairfield Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Fairfield Public Library records 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Fairfield Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 12 hours a week
Fairfield Public Library keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Fairfield Public Library serves 333 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Fairfield Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2001. Today’s library there has 1,035 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Fairfield’s civic life grade
Fairfield isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
A National Register landmark since 2001
Fairfield Public Library, 412 North D Street, Fairfield.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fairfield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Fairfield Carnegie Library
Fairfield Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 29, 2001. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Prairie Vernacular. It was listed as part of Carnegie Libraries in Nebraska MPS; Carnegie Libraries in Nebraska MPS.
The Fairfield Carnegie Library is a historic building in Fairfield, Nebraska, and a Carnegie library. It was built in 1913 by T. J. Fowler with 6,000 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. It was designed in Prairie School style by architect R. W. Grant. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since November 29, 2001.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Fairfield Public Library serves 333 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Fairfield Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
131 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,017 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $16K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2,107 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16K 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 113 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Fairfield
Does Fairfield have a public library?
Yes. Fairfield Public Library, 412 North D Street, serves Fairfield’s 333 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairfield Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fairfield’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 0.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Fairfield’s civic life grade?
Fairfield isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in 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.