Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0Fairview’s library is a branch of Multnomah County Library, which lends more per resident than 98% of systems its size
Fairview’s library is the Fairview-Columbia Library, a branch of Multnomah County Library, which serves 802,464 people and lent 9.9M items last year.
Fairview’s library, in brief
A system of heavy borrowers
The Multnomah County Library system lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 98% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
The Multnomah County Library system spends $121 per resident a year, about three times the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) comes from local taxes. 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; Fairview’s library is a branch of Multnomah County Library, so they cover the whole system (802,464 people), not just the Fairview branch.
What’s behind Fairview’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairview is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #96 of 106 in Oregon. Fairview is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$88K) 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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Fairview
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Fairview’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.9% in the typical Oregon 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 Fairview’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
9.9M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Multnomah County Library serves 802,464 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 278 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Multnomah County Library system. The library’s own count.
5,459 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Fairview-Columbia Library, 1520 NE Village St., Fairview.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Multnomah County Library branch.
New in Fairview? 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 $1.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairview cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $97M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $17M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $97M 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 350,602 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camas | Camas Public Library fine-free | 21.9 | 49 | A |
| Fairview | Fairview-Columbia Library fine-free | — | 53 | C− |
| Gresham | Gresham Library fine-free | — | 57 | D |
| Troutdale | Troutdale Library fine-free | — | 53 | C− |
| Wood Village | None of its own | — | — | D |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Fairview-Columbia Library is one branch of Multnomah County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 802,464 people it serves.
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 Fairview
Does Fairview have a public library?
Yes: Fairview-Columbia Library, 1520 NE Village St., is a branch of Multnomah County Library, which serves 802,464 people. The branch is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Multnomah County Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fairview’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 12.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Fairview’s civic life grade?
C− Fairview is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #96 of 106 in Oregon. 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 Fairview.
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.