Deer Park’s library runs 20 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Deer Park Public Library serves 26,474 people in and around Deer Park. Last year it lent 84K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
The short version on Deer Park’s library
Well funded, but lightly used
Deer Park Public Library spends $109 per resident, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 65% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Deer Park Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Five of the eight libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
55% of the 539 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 170 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans. Print still makes up 59%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
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; Deer Park Public Library serves 26,474 people in and around Deer Park, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Deer Park’s civic life grade
Deer Park 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 →
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Deer Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.9M 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 9,536 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Deer Park Public Library serves 26,474 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Deer Park Public Library system. The library’s own count.
41% of borrowing is digital
84K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
34,738 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Deer Park Public Library, 44 Lake Avenue, Deer Park.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Deer Park Public Library branch.
New in Deer Park? 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deer Park | Deer Park Public Library | — | 52 | — graded as part of its town |
| Babylon | Lindenhurst Memorial Library fine-free | — | 68 | C− |
| Wyandanch | Wyandanch Public Library | — | 62 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Dix Hills | Dix Hills fine-free | — | 65 | — graded as part of its town |
| Huntington | Huntington Public Library fine-free | — | 72 | B+ |
| North Babylon | North Babylon Public Library | — | 63 | — graded as part of its town |
| Islip | Connetquot Public Library fine-free | — | 71 | C |
| Brentwood | Brentwood Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | — under 1,000 residents |
| West Babylon | West Babylon Public Library | — | 60 | — graded as part of its town |
| Baywood | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Wheatley Heights | 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. Deer Park Public Library serves 26,474 people in and around Deer Park, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Deer Park.
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 Deer Park
Does Deer Park have a public library?
Yes. Deer Park Public Library, 44 Lake Avenue, serves 26,474 people in and around Deer Park (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Deer Park Public 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 Deer Park’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Deer Park’s civic life grade?
Deer Park 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 Deer Park.
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.