Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0West Fairlee’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
West Fairlee Free Public serves West Fairlee’s 751 residents. Last year it lent 1,521 books, movies and e-books and logged 345 visits.
The short version on West Fairlee’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
82% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 17%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 7 hours a week
West Fairlee Free Public keeps short hours: about 7 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Bradford Public in Bradford, next door, is open about 28 hours a week. The building ↓
Every town next door borrows more
West Fairlee’s library lends 2 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Fairlee at 9.5. Libraries next door ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, West Fairlee Free Public sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
West Fairlee Free Public offered 3 programs last year, 4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind West Fairlee’s civic life grade
West Fairlee isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
West Fairlee Free Public serves 751 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1,521 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,640 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
3 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
West Fairlee Free Public, 380 Rte. 113, West Fairlee.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in West Fairlee? 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 West Fairlee cardholder borrows.
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 143 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
West Fairlee ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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.
- Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. West Fairlee Free Public counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 West Fairlee
Does West Fairlee have a public library?
Yes. West Fairlee Free Public, 380 Rte. 113, serves West Fairlee’s 751 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 7 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is West Fairlee Free 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 West Fairlee’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is West Fairlee’s civic life grade?
West Fairlee isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in West 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.