East Fairfield Covered Bridge · Photo: Photo by Gerald Hann; · Public domainFairfield’s library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Bent Northrop Memorial serves Fairfield’s 1,872 residents. Last year it lent 8,736 print books and media and logged 13K visits.
What stands out about Fairfield’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Fairfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairfield is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Fairfield
4.9 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.7%
4.7% of Fairfield’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 Fairfield’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bent Northrop Memorial serves 1,872 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
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
8,736 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 Fairfield’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 8,174 books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
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
Bent Northrop Memorial, 164 Park St., Fairfield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fairfield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $173K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $168K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $173K 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 920 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fairfield ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax | Fairfax Community fine-free | 7.1 | 45 | C |
| Enosburgh | Enosburgh Public fine-free | 5.8 | 56 | B |
| Fairfield | Bent Northrop Memorial fine-free | 4.7 | 33 | B |
| Swanton | Swanton Public fine-free | 3.0 | 36 | C |
| Sheldon | Sheldon Municipal fine-free | 1.7 | 22 | D− |
| Bakersfield | H. F. Brigham Free Public fine-free | 1.2 | 27 | C |
| Fletcher | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| St. Albans | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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.
- 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 Fairfield
Does Fairfield have a public library?
Yes. Bent Northrop Memorial, 164 Park St., serves Fairfield’s 1,872 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bent Northrop Memorial 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 Fairfield’s library?
It logged 6.8 visits and lent 4.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Fairfield’s civic life grade?
B Fairfield is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Fairfield.
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.