Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Middletown’s library lends 2.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Fairview Public Library serves Middletown’s 3,336 residents. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,940 visits.
Middletown’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
75% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 24%. What your card is worth ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Fairview Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
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 Middletown’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Middletown is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #95 of 751 in New York. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Middletown
9.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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.
15.9%
15.9% of Middletown’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 Middletown’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fairview Public Library serves 3,336 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
2,645 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Middletown last year.
2 places to borrow in Middletown
Fairview Public Library, 43 Walnut Street, Margaretville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Middletown? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Middletown
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.98 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Middletown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $101K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $199K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $101K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,243 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Middletown ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shandaken | Phoenicia Library fine-free | 7.4 | 30 | A |
| Middletown | Fairview Public Library | 3.6 | 31 | A |
| Andes | Andes Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 22 | A− |
| Bovina | Bovina Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Roxbury | Roxbury Library Association fine-free | 1.3 | 25 | A+ |
| Hardenburgh | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Halcott | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- 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 Middletown
Does Middletown have a public library?
Yes. Fairview Public Library, 43 Walnut Street, serves Middletown’s 3,336 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairview Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Middletown’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Middletown’s civic life grade?
A Middletown is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #95 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 Middletown.
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.