Photo: Excel23 · CC BY-SA 4.0Neptune Beach’s library is a branch of Jacksonville Public Library, which lends more per resident than 58% of systems its size
Neptune Beach’s library is the Beaches Branch, a branch of Jacksonville Public Library, which serves 1,062,145 people and lent 3.8M items last year.
What stands out about Beaches Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Neptune Beach’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Neptune Beach is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #39 of 273 in Florida. Neptune Beach is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Neptune Beach
3.9 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of Neptune 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 Neptune Beach’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Jacksonville Public Library serves 1,062,145 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 72 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Jacksonville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
3.8M 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 Neptune Beach’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 149 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
Beaches Branch, 600 Third Street, Neptune Beach.
No late fees. Good at every Jacksonville Public Library branch.
New in Neptune 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 $1.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Neptune Beach cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $68M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4M 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 354,374 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neptune Beach | Beaches Branch fine-free | — | 46 | B |
| Jacksonville | Jacksonville Public Library - Main Library fine-free | — | 51 | C− |
| Atlantic Beach | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Jacksonville 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.
- System-wide. Beaches Branch is one branch of Jacksonville Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 1,062,145 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 Neptune Beach
Does Neptune Beach have a public library?
Yes: Beaches Branch, 600 Third Street, is a branch of Jacksonville Public Library, which serves 1,062,145 people. The branch is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jacksonville Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Neptune Beach’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Neptune Beach’s civic life grade?
B Neptune Beach is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life, #39 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 Neptune 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.