Photo: Phillip Pessar · CC BY 2.0Hialeah’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Hialeah Public Libraries serves Hialeah’s 230,575 residents from 6 locations. Last year it logged 162K visits.
What Hialeah’s library is like
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Hialeah Public Libraries charges late fines on some overdue items. All six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
95% of the 3,591 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 121 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Hialeah Public Libraries spends $10 per resident, less than 98% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). What your card is worth ↓
Six places to borrow in Hialeah
Hialeah Public Libraries runs six locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Hialeah’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hialeah has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #385. Hialeah’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
Hialeah Public Libraries spends $10 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$69K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
266 community nonprofits are registered in Hialeah
1.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (166 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 26 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
1.3%
1.3% of Hialeah’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 Hialeah’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Hialeah Public Libraries serves 230,575 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at John F. Kennedy Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 35,335 items borrowed against 162K visits, so we leave the count out.
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.
About 2 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.
6 places to borrow in Hialeah
John F. Kennedy Library, 190 West 49 Street, Hialeah.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Hialeah
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hialeah cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.4M.
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 58,973 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hialeah | John F. Kennedy Library | — | 43 | D− |
| Miami Lakes | Miami Lakes Branch Library fine-free | — | 56 | D− |
| Hialeah Gardens | Hialeah Gardens Branch Library fine-free | — | 56 | D− |
| Miami Springs | Miami Springs Branch Library fine-free | — | 56 | C+ |
| Brownsville | Model City Branch Library fine-free | — | 48 | — unincorporated |
| West Little River | Arcola Lakes Branch fine-free | — | 56 | — unincorporated |
| Opa-locka | Opa-Locka Branch Library fine-free | — | 48 | C− |
| Westview | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
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 Hialeah
Does Hialeah have a public library?
Yes. Hialeah Public Libraries, 190 West 49 Street, serves Hialeah’s 230,575 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hialeah Public Libraries fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hialeah’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Hialeah’s civic life grade?
D− Hialeah has fewer library visits and community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. 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 Hialeah.
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.