Photo: DanielPenfield · CC BY-SA 3.0Perinton’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Fairport Public Library serves 41,074 people in and around Perinton. Last year it lent 645K books, movies and e-books and logged 246K visits.
What Perinton’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Fairport Public Library logs 6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 46% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Fairport Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2017. Today’s library there has 24,700 square feet. The building ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Fairport Public Library ran 1,532 programs last year, about 29 a week. That’s 37 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 43,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 19% of all loans. 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; Fairport Public Library serves 41,074 people in and around Perinton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Perinton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Perinton is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #247 of 751 in New York. Library visits hold the grade up; Perinton’s count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
163 community nonprofits are registered in Perinton
3.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (19 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of Perinton’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 Perinton’s residents live; 2022.
About 14 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 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Fairport Public Library serves 41,074 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 234 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fairport Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
645K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
124,731 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 2017
Fairport Public Library, 1 Village Landing, Fairport.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fairport Public Library branch.
New in Perinton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Fairport Public Library
Fairport Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 8, 2017. It is significant for its architecture, art and education at the local level.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Perinton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 27,780 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsford | Pittsford Community Library | 17.9 | 61 | A |
| Penfield | Penfield Public Library | 10.9 | 60 | B |
| East Rochester | East Rochester Public Library | 6.9 | 46 | B+ |
| Macedon | Macedon Public Library fine-free | 6.7 | 48 | B |
| Perinton | Fairport Public Library | — | 53 | B+ |
| Victor | Victor Farmington Library fine-free | — | 63 | C |
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. Fairport Public Library serves 41,074 people in and around Perinton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Perinton.
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 Perinton
Does Perinton have a public library?
Yes. Fairport Public Library, 1 Village Landing, serves 41,074 people in and around Perinton (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairport 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 Perinton’s library?
It logged 6.0 visits and lent 15.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Perinton’s civic life grade?
B+ Perinton is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #247 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 Perinton.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.