Photo: Jared and Corin · CC BY-SA 2.0Fair Haven’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Fair Haven Free Library serves Fair Haven’s 2,729 residents. Last year it lent 7,155 print books and media and logged 3,520 visits.
What stands out about Fair Haven’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Fair Haven’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fair Haven is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #48 of 71 in Vermont. Fair Haven’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Fair Haven
7.9 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.3%
9.3% of Fair Haven’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Vermont 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 Fair Haven’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fair Haven Free Library serves 2,729 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
7,155 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Fair Haven’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
44 programs a year
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
Fair Haven Free Library, 107 Main St., Fair Haven.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fair Haven? 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 $1.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fair Haven cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $98K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $131K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $98K 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 1,223 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fair Haven ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poultney | Poultney Public fine-free | 8.5 | 38 | A |
| Fair Haven | Fair Haven Free Library fine-free | 2.6 | 27 | B |
| Castleton | Castleton Free Library fine-free | 1.6 | 28 | C+ |
| Benson | Benson Public fine-free | 0.8 | 10 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hampton | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| West Haven | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Fair Haven Free Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. Vermont libraries often don’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 Fair Haven
Does Fair Haven have a public library?
Yes. Fair Haven Free Library, 107 Main St., serves Fair Haven’s 2,729 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fair Haven Free 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 Fair Haven’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fair Haven’s civic life grade?
B Fair Haven is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #48 of 71 in Vermont. 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 Fair Haven.
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.