Fishers Island’s library logs 7.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Fishers Island Library Association serves Fishers Island’s 424 residents. Last year it lent 2,302 print books and media and logged 3,015 visits.
What Fishers Island’s library is like
More library cards than residents
1,344 cards for 424 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
81% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 19%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Fishers Island Library Association serves 424 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 28 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 ↓
Fishers Island invests in its library
Fishers Island Library Association spends $517 per resident a year, about ten times the typical $54 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Fishers Island Library Association holds 29,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Fishers Island’s civic life grade
Fishers Island 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Fishers Island Library Association serves 424 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.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2,302 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
17 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.
Find it
Fishers Island Library Association, 988 Oriental Avenue, Fishers Island.
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 Fishers Island? 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 Fishers Island cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $219K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $39K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $219K 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 1,344 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Fishers Island
Does Fishers Island have a public library?
Yes. Fishers Island Library Association, 988 Oriental Avenue, serves Fishers Island’s 424 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fishers Island Library Association 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 Fishers Island’s library?
It logged 7.1 visits and lent 5.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Fishers Island’s civic life grade?
Fishers Island 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 Fishers Island.
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.