Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Fayetteville’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library serves 36,169 people in and around Fayetteville. Last year it lent 53K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
Fayetteville’s library, in brief
Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $7 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 61% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library spends $7 per resident, less than 98% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
77% of the people it serves carry a library card
27,957 cards for 36,169 people, or 77%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
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; Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library serves 36,169 people in and around Fayetteville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fayetteville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fayetteville is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #120 of 150 in Tennessee. Fayetteville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Fayetteville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library spends $7 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Fayetteville
3.1 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.0%
5.0% of Fayetteville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.7% in the typical Tennessee 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 Fayetteville’s residents live; 2022.
61% of borrowing is digital
53K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
32,376 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 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library serves 36,169 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 5 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
Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library, 306 Elk Avenue North, Fayetteville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library branch.
New in Fayetteville? 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 $3.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fayetteville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $265K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $867K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $265K 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 27,957 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library serves 36,169 people in and around Fayetteville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fayetteville.
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 Fayetteville
Does Fayetteville have a public library?
Yes. Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library, 306 Elk Avenue North, serves 36,169 people in and around Fayetteville (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fayetteville-Lincoln County Public Library 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 Fayetteville’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Fayetteville’s civic life grade?
C− Fayetteville is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on civic life, #120 of 150 in Tennessee. 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 Fayetteville.
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.