Photo: sailn1 · CC BY 2.0North Palm Beach’s library runs 53 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
North Palm Beach Public Library serves North Palm Beach’s 13,101 residents. Last year it lent 52K print books and media and logged 70K visits.
What stands out about North Palm Beach’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind North Palm Beach’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, North Palm Beach is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #17 of 273 in Florida. North Palm 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 →
73 community nonprofits are registered in North Palm Beach
5.5 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of North Palm 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 North Palm Beach’s residents live; 2022.
About 10 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
North Palm Beach Public Library serves 13,101 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
52K 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 North Palm Beach’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
Find it
North Palm Beach Public Library, 303 Anchorage Drive, North Palm Beach.
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 North Palm Beach cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 9,143 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
North Palm Beach borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Palm Beach | North Palm Beach Public Library fine-free | 3.9 | 58 | B+ |
| Lake Park | Lake Park Public Library fine-free | 0.5 | 54 | C |
| Riviera Beach | Riviera Beach Public Library fine-free | 0.2 | — | C |
| Palm Beach Gardens | Gardens Branch fine-free | — | — | C |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. North Palm Beach Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 North Palm Beach
Does North Palm Beach have a public library?
Yes. North Palm Beach Public Library, 303 Anchorage Drive, serves North Palm Beach’s 13,101 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is North Palm Beach Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is North Palm Beach’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 3.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is North Palm Beach’s civic life grade?
B+ North Palm Beach is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #17 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 North Palm 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.