Westgate’s library is a branch of Palm Beach County Library System, which lends more per resident than 75% of systems its size
Westgate’s library is the Library Annex, a branch of Palm Beach County Library System, which serves 1,007,170 people and lent 5.7M items last year.
What stands out about Library Annex
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Westgate’s civic life grade
Westgate isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Palm Beach County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Westgate
Westgate is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
5.3%
5.3% of Westgate’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 Westgate’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.
Palm Beach County Library System serves 1,007,170 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Palm Beach County Library System
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Palm Beach County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. 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
5.7M 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 Westgate’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 102 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
Library Annex, 4289 Cherry Road, West Palm Beach.
No late fees. Good at every Palm Beach County Library System branch.
New in Westgate? 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 Westgate cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $59M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $99M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $59M 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 329,082 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westgate | Library Annex fine-free | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Haverhill | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. 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.
- System-wide. Library Annex is one branch of Palm Beach County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 1,007,170 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 Westgate
Does Westgate have a public library?
Yes: Library Annex, 4289 Cherry Road, is a branch of Palm Beach County Library System, which serves 1,007,170 people.
Is Palm Beach County Library System fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Westgate’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 5.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Westgate’s civic life grade?
Westgate isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Palm Beach County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Westgate.
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.