Photo: formulanone from Huntsville, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Riviera Beach’s library lends 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Riviera Beach Public Library serves Riviera Beach’s 39,390 residents. Last year it lent 9,346 print books and media and logged 64K visits.
What Riviera Beach’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Riviera Beach’s library lends 0.2 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by North Palm Beach at 3.9. Libraries next door ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Riviera Beach Public Library lends 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, fewer than 99% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Riviera Beach Public Library holds 62,000 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 Riviera Beach’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Riviera Beach is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #100 of 273 in Florida. Riviera Beach’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($51K–$85K) 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 →
169 community nonprofits are registered in Riviera Beach
4.4 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 (77 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 18 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.3%
7.3% of Riviera 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 Riviera Beach’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Riviera Beach Public Library serves 39,390 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at Riviera Beach Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open and 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
9,346 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 Riviera Beach’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 62K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
397 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Riviera Beach Public Library, 2129 North Congress Avenue, Riviera 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 Riviera Beach 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 18,079 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Riviera Beach ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. 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+ |
| West Palm Beach | Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach fine-free | 2.5 | 63 | C |
| 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 |
| Palm Beach Shores | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Palm 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.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open and 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 Riviera Beach
Does Riviera Beach have a public library?
Yes. Riviera Beach Public Library, 2129 North Congress Avenue, serves Riviera Beach’s 39,390 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Riviera Beach Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Riviera Beach’s library?
It logged 1.6 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 Riviera Beach’s civic life grade?
C Riviera Beach is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #100 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 Riviera 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.