Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0Fossil’s library runs 4.4 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Fossil Public Library serves Fossil’s 455 residents. Last year it lent 2,112 print books and media and logged 900 visits.
What Fossil’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Fossil Public Library offered 2 programs last year, 4.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Fossil Public Library serves 455 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 30 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Fossil’s civic life grade
Fossil isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Fossil Public Library serves 455 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
2,112 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 4,747 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
2 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Fossil Public Library, 401 Main St., Fossil.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fossil? 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 $1.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fossil cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $34K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $35K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $34K 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 255 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Fossil Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Fossil
Does Fossil have a public library?
Yes. Fossil Public Library, 401 Main St., serves Fossil’s 455 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fossil Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fossil’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 4.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Fossil’s civic life grade?
Fossil isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Fossil.
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.