Photo: Ken Lund from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Fredericksburg’s library is a branch of Central Rappahannock Regional Library, which lends more per resident than 82% of systems its size
Fredericksburg’s library is the Fredericksburg Branch, a branch of Central Rappahannock Regional Library, which serves 347,033 people and lent 2.9M items last year.
What stands out about Fredericksburg Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Fredericksburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fredericksburg is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #48 of 88 in Virginia. Fredericksburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Fredericksburg’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
170 community nonprofits are registered in Fredericksburg
5.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (30 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.0%
6.0% of Fredericksburg’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.9% in the typical Virginia 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 Fredericksburg’s residents live; 2022.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
2.9M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
629,128 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Central Rappahannock Regional Library serves 347,033 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 120 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Central Rappahannock Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
About 41 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
Fredericksburg Branch, 1201 Caroline St., Fredericksburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Central Rappahannock Regional Library branch.
New in Fredericksburg? 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 $3.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fredericksburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $14M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $46M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $14M 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 31,744 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fredericksburg | Fredericksburg Branch fine-free | — | 61 | B− |
| Falmouth | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Chatham Heights | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Fredericksburg Branch is one branch of Central Rappahannock Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 347,033 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 Fredericksburg
Does Fredericksburg have a public library?
Yes: Fredericksburg Branch, 1201 Caroline St., is a branch of Central Rappahannock Regional Library, which serves 347,033 people. The branch is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Central Rappahannock Regional 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 Fredericksburg’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Fredericksburg’s civic life grade?
B− Fredericksburg is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life, #48 of 88 in Virginia. 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 Fredericksburg.
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.