Photo: Michael Kagdis · CC BY-SA 3.0Palm Beach has no public library of its own; the nearest is Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, 1.5 miles away
Palm Beach doesn’t have a public library of its own. The closest is Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, 1.5 miles away. Many small-town libraries give cards to neighbors, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
B−Civic lifeAhead of 51% of U.S. towns · #51 of 273 in Florida. Nonprofits and volunteering.Getting a library card from Palm Beach
Palm Beach borrows from the libraries next door
Palm Beach has no public library of its own, but four libraries are within 10 miles, the closest being Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach in West Palm Beach (1.5 miles). Many small-town libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead. Nearest libraries ↓
Most nearby libraries are fine-free
Three of the four closest libraries don’t charge late fines. Nearest libraries ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Distances are straight-line from the town center.
What’s behind Palm Beach’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Palm Beach is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #51 of 273 in Florida. Palm Beach is graded on two of the three inputs. 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 →
113 community nonprofits are registered in Palm Beach
12.1 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 (12 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.
3.5%
3.5% of 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 Palm Beach’s residents live; 2022.
The closest is 1.5 miles away
Closest first, measured from the center of Palm Beach. Each one’s hours, and whether it charges late fines.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Riviera Beach | Riviera Beach Public Library fine-free | 0.2 | — | C |
| Lake Worth Beach | Lake Worth Beach Public Library fine-free | 0.2 | 40 | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Palm Beach
Does Palm Beach have a public library?
No. The closest is Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, 1.5 miles from the town center. Many libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
What is Palm Beach’s civic life grade?
B− Palm Beach is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #51 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 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.