Photo: Richard Mc Neil · CC BY 3.0Lighthouse Point’s library runs 38 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Doreen Gauthier Lighthouse Point Library serves Lighthouse Point’s 10,462 residents. Last year it lent 30K print books and media and drew 5,158 people to its programs.
What’s behind Lighthouse Point’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lighthouse Point is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #265 of 273 in Florida. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Lighthouse Point is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Lighthouse Point’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
The survey’s stand-in for Lighthouse Point’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($69K–$115K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Lighthouse Point
1.8 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.4%
2.4% of Lighthouse Point’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 Lighthouse Point’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Doreen Gauthier Lighthouse Point Library serves 10,462 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Books and media off the shelf
30K 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 Lighthouse Point’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 39K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
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.
Find it
Doreen Gauthier Lighthouse Point Library, 2200 Northeast 38th Street, Lighthouse Point.
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 Lighthouse Point cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $616K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $558K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $616K 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 4,938 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lighthouse Point | Doreen Gauthier Lighthouse Point Library | 2.8 | 40 | D− |
| Deerfield Beach | Deerfield Beach Percy White Branch fine-free | — | 48 | D− |
| Pompano Beach | Pompano Beach Branch fine-free | — | 46 | D |
| Hillsboro Beach | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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: visits. Doreen Gauthier Lighthouse Point Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- 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 Lighthouse Point
Does Lighthouse Point have a public library?
Yes. Doreen Gauthier Lighthouse Point Library, 2200 Northeast 38th Street, serves Lighthouse Point’s 10,462 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Doreen Gauthier Lighthouse Point Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lighthouse Point’s library?
It lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024 (print) and ran 399 programs that drew 5,158 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Lighthouse Point’s civic life grade?
D− Lighthouse Point is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #265 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 Lighthouse Point.
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.