Photo: AITFFan1 · CC BY-SA 4.0Baxter Estates’ library runs 85 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Port Washington Public Library serves 32,438 people in and around Baxter Estates. Last year it lent 362K books, movies and e-books and logged 277K visits.
The short version on Baxter Estates’s library
Six times the programs of a typical library its size
Port Washington Public Library ran 2,742 programs last year, about 53 a week. That’s 85 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 41,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Port Washington Public Library logs 8.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 97% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.2 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 35% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Port Washington Public Library spends $226 per resident a year, about six times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
29,087 cards for 32,438 people, or 90%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. 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; Port Washington Public Library serves 32,438 people in and around Baxter Estates, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Baxter Estates’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Baxter Estates is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns. Baxter Estates is graded on two of the three inputs. Baxter Estates’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Baxter Estates
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.3%
7.3% of Baxter Estates’ 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 Baxter Estates’ residents live; 2022.
About 9 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Port Washington Public Library serves 32,438 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 101 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Port Washington Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
362K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
126,886 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Port Washington Public Library, 1 Library Drive, Port Washington.
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 Port Washington Public Library branch.
New in Baxter Estates? The Handbook →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 Baxter Estates cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $7.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7.3M 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 29,087 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter Estates | Port Washington Public Library fine-free | — | 69 | B− |
| Port Washington | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Port Washington North | 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.
- System-wide. Port Washington Public Library serves 32,438 people in and around Baxter Estates, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Baxter Estates.
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 Baxter Estates
Does Baxter Estates have a public library?
Yes. Port Washington Public Library, 1 Library Drive, serves 32,438 people in and around Baxter Estates (the survey’s count) and is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Port Washington Public 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 Baxter Estates’ library?
It logged 8.5 visits and lent 11.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Baxter Estates’ civic life grade?
B− Baxter Estates is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Baxter Estates.
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.