Photo: Jim.henderson · CC BY-SA 4.0Fairview’s library lends 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Fairview Free Public Library serves Fairview’s 15,025 residents. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
Fairview’s library, in brief
Every town next door borrows more
Fairview’s library lends 1.2 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Cliffside Park at 7. Libraries next door ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Fairview Free Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 68% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 79% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
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 Fairview’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairview is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #448 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Fairview’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$80K) 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Fairview
0.7 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.
2.2%
2.2% of Fairview’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.2% in the typical New Jersey 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 Fairview’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Fairview Free Public Library serves 15,025 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,850 books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
3,305 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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 Fairview last year.
Find it
Fairview Free Public Library, 213 Anderson Avenue, Fairview.
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 Fairview? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairview cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $517K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $291K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $517K 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 4,149 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fairview ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cliffside Park | Cliffside Park Free Library fine-free | 7.0 | 61 | D− |
| Ridgefield | Ridgefield Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 4.4 | — | D |
| North Bergen Township | North Bergen Public Library | 1.9 | 63 | D− |
| Fairview | Fairview Free Public Library fine-free | 1.2 | 54 | D− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Fairview Free Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Fairview
Does Fairview have a public library?
Yes. Fairview Free Public Library, 213 Anderson Avenue, serves Fairview’s 15,025 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairview Free 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 Fairview’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Fairview’s civic life grade?
D− Fairview is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #448 of 466 in New Jersey. 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 Fairview.
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.