Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0Plantation’s library logs 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Helen B. Hoffman Plantation Library serves Plantation’s 98,431 residents. Last year it lent 20K print books and media and logged 32K visits.
The short version on Plantation’s library
Helen B. Hoffman Plantation Library is used less than most libraries its size
Helen B. Hoffman Plantation 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. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 297 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people Helen B. Hoffman Plantation Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Helen B. Hoffman Plantation Library holds 47,000 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 Plantation’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Plantation is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #203 of 273 in Florida. Plantation’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($69K–$116K) 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 →
363 community nonprofits are registered in Plantation
3.8 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 (97 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 29 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.2%
4.2% of Plantation’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 Plantation’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 4 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Helen B. Hoffman Plantation Library serves 98,431 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.
Not reported for 2024: spending. 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
20K 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 Plantation’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 47K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
About 4 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.
2 places to borrow in Plantation
Helen B. Hoffman Plantation Library, 501 North Fig Tree Lane, Plantation.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Plantation
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plantation cardholder borrows.
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 11,722 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plantation | Helen B. Hoffman Plantation Library fine-free | 0.2 | 54 | D |
| Lauderhill | Lauderhill Towne Centre Library fine-free | — | 46 | D− |
| Sunrise | Sunrise Dan Pearl Branch fine-free | — | 46 | D |
| Fort Lauderdale | Broward County Main Library fine-free | — | 46 | C+ |
| Davie | Davie/Cooper City Branch fine-free | — | 46 | C− |
| Broadview Park | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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: spending. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- 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 Plantation
Does Plantation have a public library?
Yes. Helen B. Hoffman Plantation Library, 501 North Fig Tree Lane, serves Plantation’s 98,431 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Helen B. Hoffman Plantation Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Plantation’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 Plantation’s civic life grade?
D Plantation is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on civic life, #203 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 Plantation.
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.