Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Fairfax’s library lends 7.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Fairfax Community serves Fairfax’s 5,138 residents. Last year it lent 36K print books and media and logged 9,340 visits.
What Fairfax’s library is like
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 81% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 72%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 199 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 44 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Fairfax’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairfax is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #66 of 71 in Vermont. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($97K–$161K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Fairfax
3.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.6%
7.6% of Fairfax’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 Fairfax’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
36K 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 Fairfax’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 47K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fairfax Community serves 5,138 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 3 kids’ programs 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
Fairfax Community, 75 Hunt St., Fairfax.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fairfax? 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 $4.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairfax cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $140K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $628K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $140K 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 3,540 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fairfax ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westford | Westford Public fine-free | 7.3 | 34 | A− |
| Fairfax | Fairfax Community fine-free | 7.1 | 45 | C |
| Georgia | Georgia Public fine-free | 4.7 | 38 | C |
| Fairfield | Bent Northrop Memorial fine-free | 4.7 | 33 | B |
| Milton | Milton Public fine-free | 3.8 | 43 | C |
| Cambridge | Varnum Memorial fine-free | 2.4 | 38 | B− |
| Fletcher | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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. Fairfax Community 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 Fairfax
Does Fairfax have a public library?
Yes. Fairfax Community, 75 Hunt St., serves Fairfax’s 5,138 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairfax Community 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 Fairfax’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 7.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fairfax’s civic life grade?
C Fairfax is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #66 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 Fairfax.
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.