Babylon Town Hall · Photo: DanTD · CC BY-SA 3.0Babylon’s library runs 35 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Lindenhurst Memorial Library serves 41,712 people in and around Babylon. Last year it lent 186K books, movies and e-books and logged 154K visits.
The short version on Babylon’s library
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 51% of loans, more per resident than at 78% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 49%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Lindenhurst Memorial Library ran 1,458 programs last year, about 28 a week. That’s 35 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 30,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
The Babylon branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
A well-funded system
Lindenhurst Memorial Library spends $105 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Lindenhurst Memorial Library serves 41,712 people in and around Babylon, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Babylon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Babylon is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns, #614 of 751 in New York. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #206. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Babylon’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($96K–$160K) 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 →
566 community nonprofits are registered in Babylon
2.6 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 (172 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 32 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of Babylon’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Babylon’s residents live; 2022.
About 11 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lindenhurst Memorial Library serves 41,712 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 53 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lindenhurst Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
51% of borrowing is digital
186K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
95,073 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
8 places to borrow in Babylon
Lindenhurst Memorial Library, One Lee Avenue, Lindenhurst.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lindenhurst Memorial Library branch.
New in Babylon? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Lindenhurst Memorial Library branches in Babylon
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Babylon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.4M 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 19,068 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babylon | Lindenhurst Memorial Library fine-free | — | 68 | C− |
| Islip | Connetquot Public Library fine-free | — | 71 | C |
| West Islip | West Islip Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | — graded as part of its town |
| Oyster Bay | Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library | — | 71 | B |
| Huntington | Huntington Public Library fine-free | — | 72 | B+ |
| Amityville | Amityville Public Library fine-free | — | 62 | D |
| Deer Park | Deer Park Public Library | — | 52 | — graded as part of its town |
| North Babylon | North Babylon Public Library | — | 63 | — graded as part of its town |
| Dix Hills | Dix Hills fine-free | — | 65 | — graded as part of its town |
| East Massapequa | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Lindenhurst Memorial Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Lindenhurst Memorial Library serves 41,712 people in and around Babylon, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Babylon.
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 Babylon
Does Babylon have a public library?
Yes. Lindenhurst Memorial Library, One Lee Avenue, serves 41,712 people in and around Babylon (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lindenhurst Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Babylon’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Babylon’s civic life grade?
C− Babylon is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns on civic life, #614 of 751 in New York. 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 Babylon.
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.