Fairview’s library is a branch of Marion County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 61% of systems its size
Fairview’s library is the Fairview, a branch of Marion County Public Library, which serves 56,205 people and lent 250K items last year.
What stands out about Fairview
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Fairview’s civic life grade
Fairview 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Marion County Public Library serves 56,205 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at Marion County Public Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Marion County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
250K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Fairview’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
88,441 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 12 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Fairview, 500 Main Street, Fairview.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Marion County Public Library branch.
New in Fairview? 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 $2.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairview cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 20,319 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Fairview is one branch of Marion County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 56,205 people it serves.
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 Fairview
Does Fairview have a public library?
Yes: Fairview, 500 Main Street, is a branch of Marion County Public Library, which serves 56,205 people. The branch is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marion County Public 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 Fairview’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Fairview’s civic life grade?
Fairview 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 Fairview.
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.