Photo: Pbalson8204 at English Wikipedia · Public domainFairport Harbor’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Fairport Harbor Public Library serves 3,122 people in and around Fairport Harbor. Last year it lent 54K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
The short version on Fairport Harbor’s library
Ohio pays a big share
65% of the budget comes from the state, and 32% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Fairport Harbor Public Library ran 339 programs last year, about 7 a week. That’s 109 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 3,737 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Fairport Harbor Public Library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 96% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 24% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
57% of the 339 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 95 were for children. 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; Fairport Harbor Public Library serves 3,122 people in and around Fairport Harbor, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fairport Harbor’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairport Harbor is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #596 of 914 in Ohio. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$65K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Fairport Harbor
3.3 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.7%
6.7% of Fairport Harbor’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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 Fairport Harbor’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
54K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,962 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Fairport Harbor Public Library serves 3,122 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fairport Harbor Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 2 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.
Find it
Fairport Harbor Public Library, 335 Vine St., Fairport Harbor.
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 Fairport Harbor Public Library branch.
New in Fairport Harbor? 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 $2.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairport Harbor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $327K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $899K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $327K 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 2,382 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairport Harbor | Fairport Harbor Public Library fine-free | — | 50 | C+ |
| Painesville | Morley Library fine-free | — | 55 | C |
| Painesville Township | Fairport Harbor Public Library fine-free | — | 50 | — graded with its twin city |
| Grand River | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Fairport Harbor Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Fairport Harbor Public Library serves 3,122 people in and around Fairport Harbor, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fairport Harbor.
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 Fairport Harbor
Does Fairport Harbor have a public library?
Yes. Fairport Harbor Public Library, 335 Vine St., serves 3,122 people in and around Fairport Harbor (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairport Harbor Public 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 Fairport Harbor’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 17.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fairport Harbor’s civic life grade?
C+ Fairport Harbor is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #596 of 914 in Ohio. 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 Fairport Harbor.
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.