Photo: Swampyank at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Foster Center’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Libraries of Foster serves 4,469 people in and around Foster Center. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,235 visits.
The short version on Foster Center’s library
Libraries of Foster serves more than Foster Center
The library’s service area covers 4,469 people in and around Foster Center, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Libraries of Foster holds 34,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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.
What’s behind Foster Center’s civic life grade
Foster Center 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 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Libraries of Foster serves 4,469 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
6,611 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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
Foster Public Library, 184 Howard Hill Road, Foster.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Foster Center? 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 $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Foster Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $233K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $331K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $233K 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 1,012 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Foster Center
Does Foster Center have a public library?
Yes. Libraries of Foster, 184 Howard Hill Road, serves 4,469 people in and around Foster Center (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Libraries of Foster 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 Foster Center’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Foster Center’s civic life grade?
Foster Center 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 Foster Center.
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.