Photo: DanTD · CC BY-SA 4.0Brightwaters’ library logs 4.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library serves 35,336 people in and around Brightwaters. Last year it lent 130K books, movies and e-books and logged 149K visits.
The short version on Brightwaters’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 79% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 25%. The building also logs about 188 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 50% of loans, more per resident than at 69% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 50%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Brightwaters branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
A well-funded system
Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library spends $97 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) 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; Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library serves 35,336 people in and around Brightwaters, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Brightwaters’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Brightwaters is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #87 of 751 in New York. Brightwaters is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Brightwaters
5.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.0%
10.0% of Brightwaters’ 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 Brightwaters’ residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brightwaters cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.4M 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 18,369 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library serves 35,336 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library system. The library’s own count.
50% of borrowing is digital
130K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
65,395 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library, One South Country Road, Brightwaters.
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 Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library branch.
New in Brightwaters? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brightwaters | Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | A |
| Bay Shore | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| West Bay Shore | 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.
- System-wide. Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library serves 35,336 people in and around Brightwaters, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Brightwaters.
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 Brightwaters
Does Brightwaters have a public library?
Yes. Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library, One South Country Road, serves 35,336 people in and around Brightwaters (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bay Shore-Brightwaters 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 Brightwaters’ library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Brightwaters’ civic life grade?
A Brightwaters is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #87 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 Brightwaters.
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.