Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Florida’s library runs 96 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Florida Public Library serves 5,132 people in and around Florida. Last year it lent 31K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
Florida’s library, in brief
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Florida Public Library ran 492 programs last year, about 9 a week. That’s 96 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 6,688 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Florida Public Library spends $90 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 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; Florida Public Library serves 5,132 people in and around Florida, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Florida’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Florida is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #35 of 751 in New York. Florida 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Florida
6.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (2 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.
11.7%
11.7% of Florida’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 Florida’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Florida Public Library serves 5,132 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Florida Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
31K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,326 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Florida Public Library, 4 Cohen Circle, Florida.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Florida Public Library branch.
New in Florida? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Florida cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $463K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $550K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $463K 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 2,359 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.
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. Florida Public Library serves 5,132 people in and around Florida, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Florida.
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 Florida
Does Florida have a public library?
Yes. Florida Public Library, 4 Cohen Circle, serves 5,132 people in and around Florida (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Florida 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 Florida’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 6.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Florida’s civic life grade?
A Florida is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #35 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 Florida.
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.