Photo: Nyttend · Public domainFayette’s library runs 263 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Normal Memorial Library serves 2,510 people in and around Fayette. Last year it lent 28K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
What Fayette’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
69% of the budget comes from the state, and 19% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Eight times the programs of a typical library its size
Normal Memorial Library ran 661 programs last year, about 13 a week. That’s 263 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 8,035 attended. Kids & programs ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Normal Memorial Library logs 8.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 9.2 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 661 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Normal Memorial Library spends $92 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. 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; Normal Memorial Library serves 2,510 people in and around Fayette, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fayette’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fayette is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. Fayette is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Fayette’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Fayette
8.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.5%
10.5% of Fayette’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 Fayette’s residents live; 2022.
About 10 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Normal Memorial Library serves 2,510 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Normal Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
28K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,478 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Normal Memorial Library, 301 N. Eagle St., Fayette.
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 Normal Memorial Library branch.
New in Fayette? 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 $2.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fayette cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $230K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $525K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $230K 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 655 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Normal Memorial Library serves 2,510 people in and around Fayette, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fayette.
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 Fayette
Does Fayette have a public library?
Yes. Normal Memorial Library, 301 N. Eagle St., serves 2,510 people in and around Fayette (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Normal Memorial 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 Fayette’s library?
It logged 8.7 visits and lent 11.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fayette’s civic life grade?
A+ Fayette is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Fayette.
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.