Photo: Elisa.rolle · CC BY-SA 4.0Lake Worth Beach’s library logs 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Lake Worth Beach Public Library serves Lake Worth Beach’s 43,472 residents. Last year it lent 9,309 print books and media and logged 12K visits.
The short version on Lake Worth Beach’s library
Lake Worth Beach Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Lake Worth Beach Public Library records 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Lake Worth Beach Public Library holds 53,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Lake Worth Beach’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lake Worth Beach is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns, #245 of 273 in Florida. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Lake Worth Beach Public Library spends $17 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$76K) 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 →
90 community nonprofits are registered in Lake Worth Beach
2.1 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 (39 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.3%
5.3% of Lake Worth Beach’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 Lake Worth Beach’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lake Worth Beach Public Library serves 43,472 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
9,309 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 Lake Worth Beach’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 53K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
242 programs a year
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
Lake Worth Beach Public Library, 15 North M Street, Lake Worth.
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 Lake Worth Beach cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $755K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $267K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $755K 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 22,991 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lake Worth Beach ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Palm Beach | Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach fine-free | 2.5 | 63 | C |
| Lantana | Lantana Public Library fine-free | 0.8 | 44 | D |
| Lake Worth Beach | Lake Worth Beach Public Library fine-free | 0.2 | 40 | D− |
| Lake Clarke Shores | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Palm Beach | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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. The library didn’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 Lake Worth Beach
Does Lake Worth Beach have a public library?
Yes. Lake Worth Beach Public Library, 15 North M Street, serves Lake Worth Beach’s 43,472 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lake Worth Beach Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lake Worth Beach’s library?
It logged 0.3 visits and lent 0.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lake Worth Beach’s civic life grade?
D− Lake Worth Beach is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns on civic life, #245 of 273 in Florida. 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 Lake Worth 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.