Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0East Hampton’s library runs 65 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
East Hampton Library serves 20,511 people in and around East Hampton. Last year it lent 149K books, movies and e-books and logged 145K visits.
What East Hampton’s library is like
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 68% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 32%. What people borrow ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 91% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 29%. The building also logs about 176 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 93% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
East Hampton Library ran 1,329 programs last year, about 26 a week. That’s 65 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 27,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
East Hampton Library spends $191 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
28% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 71%. 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; East Hampton Library serves 20,511 people in and around East Hampton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind East Hampton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, East Hampton is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns. East Hampton is graded on two of the three inputs. East Hampton’s 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in East Hampton
8.7 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.7%
3.7% of East Hampton’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 East Hampton’s residents live; 2022.
68% of borrowing is digital
149K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
101,137 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
East Hampton Library serves 20,511 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole East Hampton Library system. The library’s own count.
About 10 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
East Hampton Library, 159 Main Street, East Hampton.
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 East Hampton Library branch.
New in East Hampton? 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 East Hampton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $3.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.9M 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 13,100 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Hampton | East Hampton Library fine-free | — | 58 | B− |
| Amagansett | Amagansett Free Library fine-free | — | 49 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wainscott | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| East Hampton North | 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. East Hampton Library serves 20,511 people in and around East Hampton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just East Hampton.
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 East Hampton
Does East Hampton have a public library?
Yes. East Hampton Library, 159 Main Street, serves 20,511 people in and around East Hampton (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is East Hampton 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 East Hampton’s library?
It logged 7.1 visits and lent 7.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is East Hampton’s civic life grade?
B− East Hampton is ahead of 47% 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 East Hampton.
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.