Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0Fairlee’s library lends 9.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Fairlee Public serves Fairlee’s 1,042 residents. Last year it lent 9,911 print books and media and logged 5,316 visits.
Fairlee’s library, in brief
Fairlee out-borrows every town next door
At 9.5 loans per resident, Fairlee leads the four towns here. The closest is Bradford, at 4.3. Libraries next door ↓
A small-town library
Fairlee Public serves 1,042 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Fairlee’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairlee is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. Fairlee’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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Fairlee
8.1 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.
6.3%
6.3% of Fairlee’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 Fairlee’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
9,911 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 Fairlee’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 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 all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Fairlee Public serves 1,042 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
75 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Fairlee Public, 221 Us Rte 5 N, Fairlee.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fairlee? 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 $1.80 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairlee cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $102K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $183K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $102K 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 773 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fairlee borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairlee | Fairlee Public fine-free | 9.5 | 25 | B+ |
| Bradford | Bradford Public fine-free | 4.3 | 28 | A− |
| Orford | Orford Free Library fine-free | 3.8 | 14 | A |
| West Fairlee | West Fairlee Free Public fine-free | 2.0 | 7 | — 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.
- 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 Fairlee
Does Fairlee have a public library?
Yes. Fairlee Public, 221 Us Rte 5 N, serves Fairlee’s 1,042 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairlee Public 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 Fairlee’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 9.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Fairlee’s civic life grade?
B+ Fairlee is ahead of 73% 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 Fairlee.
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.