Photo: DanTD · CC BY-SA 4.0Cold Spring Harbor’s library runs 123 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Cold Spring Harbor Village Improvement Society Library serves 8,479 people in and around Cold Spring Harbor. Last year it lent 67K books, movies and e-books and logged 70K visits.
Cold Spring Harbor’s library, in brief
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 56% of loans, more per resident than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 44%. What people borrow ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Cold Spring Harbor Village Improvement Society Library ran 1,042 programs last year, about 20 a week. That’s 123 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 12,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Cold Spring Harbor Village Improvement Society Library spends $287 per resident a year, about seven times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Cold Spring Harbor Village Improvement Society Library logs 8.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is closer to typical, at 3.5 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; Cold Spring Harbor Village Improvement Society Library serves 8,479 people in and around Cold Spring Harbor, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Cold Spring Harbor’s civic life grade
Cold Spring Harbor 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 →
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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Cold Spring Harbor Village Improvement Society Library serves 8,479 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cold Spring Harbor Village Improvement Society Library system. The library’s own count.
56% of borrowing is digital
67K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
37,508 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Cold Spring Harbor Village Improvement Society Library, 95 Harbor Rd, Cold Spring Harbor.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Cold Spring Harbor Village Improvement Society Library branch.
New in Cold Spring Harbor? 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 Cold Spring Harbor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 5,892 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Spring Harbor | Cold Spring Harbor Village Improvement Society Library | — | 62 | — graded as part of its town |
| Huntington | Huntington Public Library fine-free | — | 72 | B+ |
| Oyster Bay | Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library | — | 71 | B |
| Lloyd Harbor | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Laurel Hollow | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| West Hills | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Woodbury | 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. Cold Spring Harbor Village Improvement Society Library serves 8,479 people in and around Cold Spring Harbor, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Cold Spring Harbor.
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 Cold Spring Harbor
Does Cold Spring Harbor have a public library?
Yes. Cold Spring Harbor Village Improvement Society Library, 95 Harbor Rd, serves 8,479 people in and around Cold Spring Harbor (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cold Spring Harbor Village Improvement Society Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cold Spring Harbor’s library?
It logged 8.3 visits and lent 7.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Cold Spring Harbor’s civic life grade?
Cold Spring Harbor 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 Cold Spring Harbor.
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.