Photo: Village of Fayetteville · CC BY-SA 3.0Fayetteville’s library lends 16 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Fayetteville Free Library serves 10,971 people in and around Fayetteville. Last year it lent 258K books, movies and e-books and logged 116K visits.
Fayetteville’s library, in brief
One of the busiest library systems its size
Fayetteville Free Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 16 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Fayetteville Free Library ran 966 programs last year, about 19 a week. That’s 88 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 20,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
11,210 cards for 10,971 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 44% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% 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; Fayetteville Free Library serves 10,971 people in and around Fayetteville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fayetteville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fayetteville is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #213 of 751 in New York. Fayetteville 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Fayetteville
4.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.7%
8.7% of Fayetteville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Fayetteville’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Fayetteville Free Library serves 10,971 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 Fayetteville Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
258K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
77,323 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Fayetteville Free Library, 300 Orchard Street, Fayetteville.
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 Fayetteville Free Library branch.
New in Fayetteville? 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 $2.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fayetteville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 11,210 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Fayetteville Free Library serves 10,971 people in and around Fayetteville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fayetteville.
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 Fayetteville
Does Fayetteville have a public library?
Yes. Fayetteville Free Library, 300 Orchard Street, serves 10,971 people in and around Fayetteville (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fayetteville Free 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 Fayetteville’s library?
It logged 10.6 visits and lent 23.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Fayetteville’s civic life grade?
B+ Fayetteville is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #213 of 751 in New York. 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 Fayetteville.
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.