Long Island’s library logs 9.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Long Island Community Library serves Long Island’s 231 residents. Last year it lent 1,967 print books and media and logged 2,112 visits.
The short version on Long Island’s library
More library cards than residents
926 cards for 231 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Open only about 10 hours a week
Long Island Community Library keeps short hours: about 10 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Falmouth Memorial Library in Falmouth, next door, is open about 47 hours a week. The building ↓
A small-town library
Long Island Community Library serves 231 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
37% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 63%. What your card is worth ↓
People come to Long Island Community Library a lot
Long Island Community Library logs 9.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 8.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Long Island’s civic life grade
Long Island isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Long Island Community Library serves 231 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1,967 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card.
34 programs a year
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.
Find it
Long Island Community Library, 7 Gorham Avenue, Long Island.
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 $3.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Long Island cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $16K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $60K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16K 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 926 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Long Island ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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. Long Island Community 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 Long Island
Does Long Island have a public library?
Yes. Long Island Community Library, 7 Gorham Avenue, serves Long Island’s 231 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 10 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Long Island Community Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Long Island’s library?
It logged 9.1 visits and lent 8.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Long Island’s civic life grade?
Long Island isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Long Island.
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.