Photo: Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0Rehoboth Beach’s library runs 48 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Rehoboth Beach Public Library serves Rehoboth Beach’s 14,372 residents. Last year it lent 79K books, movies and e-books and logged 80K visits.
Rehoboth Beach’s library, in brief
Programs lean toward adults
54% of the 684 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 245 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
42% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 42% of loans, more per resident than at 80% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 58%. What people borrow ↓
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 Rehoboth Beach’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rehoboth Beach is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns. Rehoboth Beach is graded on two of the three inputs. Rehoboth Beach’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 Rehoboth Beach
6.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.9%
5.9% of Rehoboth Beach’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Delaware 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 Rehoboth Beach’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Rehoboth Beach Public Library serves 14,372 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
42% of borrowing is digital
79K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
32,849 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Rehoboth Beach Public Library, 226 Rehoboth Avenue, Rehoboth Beach.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rehoboth Beach? 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 $2.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rehoboth Beach cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $472K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $472K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 9,495 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rehoboth Beach | Rehoboth Beach Public Library | 5.5 | 46 | B |
| Henlopen Acres | None of its own | — | — | — 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Rehoboth Beach
Does Rehoboth Beach have a public library?
Yes. Rehoboth Beach Public Library, 226 Rehoboth Avenue, serves Rehoboth Beach’s 14,372 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rehoboth Beach Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Rehoboth Beach’s library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 5.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Rehoboth Beach’s civic life grade?
B Rehoboth Beach is ahead of 56% 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 Rehoboth Beach.
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.