Fairmount’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Fairmount Community Library Assoc. serves 5,361 people in and around Fairmount. Last year it lent 76K books, movies and e-books and logged 46K visits.
The short version on Fairmount’s library
One of the busiest library systems its size
Fairmount Community Library Assoc. logs 8.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
75% of the 331 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 21% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
4,701 cards for 5,361 people, or 88%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
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; Fairmount Community Library Assoc. serves 5,361 people in and around Fairmount, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fairmount’s civic life grade
Fairmount 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 →
About 5 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fairmount Community Library Assoc. serves 5,361 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fairmount Community Library Assoc. system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
76K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
16,327 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Fairmount Community Library, 406 Chapel Drive, Syracuse.
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 Fairmount Community Library Assoc. branch.
New in Fairmount? 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 $4.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairmount cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $340K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $340K 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 4,701 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solvay | Solvay Public Library fine-free | 9.0 | 55 | B |
| Geddes | Solvay Public Library fine-free | 9.0 | 55 | C+ |
| Camillus | Maxwell Memorial Library fine-free | 4.6 | 50 | C |
| Fairmount | Fairmount Community Library fine-free | — | 47 | — graded as part of its town |
| Westvale | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Fairmount Community Library Assoc. serves 5,361 people in and around Fairmount, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fairmount.
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 Fairmount
Does Fairmount have a public library?
Yes. Fairmount Community Library Assoc., 406 Chapel Drive, serves 5,361 people in and around Fairmount (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairmount Community Library Assoc. 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 Fairmount’s library?
It logged 8.7 visits and lent 14.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fairmount’s civic life grade?
Fairmount 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 Fairmount.
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.