Photo: Felton Davis · CC BY 2.0Glen Cove’s library runs 71 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Glen Cove Public Library serves 28,365 people in and around Glen Cove. Last year it lent 106K books, movies and e-books and logged 113K visits.
Glen Cove’s library, in brief
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Glen Cove Public Library ran 2,024 programs last year, about 39 a week. That’s 71 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Glen Cove branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
A well-funded system
Glen Cove Public Library spends $115 per resident a year, about three times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
88% of the 2,024 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 194 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Glen Cove Public Library serves 28,365 people in and around Glen Cove, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Glen Cove’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Glen Cove is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns, #521 of 751 in New York. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($69K–$115K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
102 community nonprofits are registered in Glen Cove
3.6 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 (28 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.7%
4.7% of Glen Cove’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 Glen Cove’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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Glen Cove Public Library serves 28,365 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Glen Cove Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
106K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
39,420 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Glen Cove Public Library, 4 Glen Cove Avenue, Glen Cove.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Glen Cove Public Library branch.
New in Glen Cove? 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 Glen Cove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.3M 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 10,047 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea Cliff | Sea Cliff Village Library fine-free | 8.3 | 46 | A |
| Glen Cove | Glen Cove Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C |
| Oyster Bay | Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library | — | 71 | B |
| Glen Head | Gold Coast Public Library | — | 68 | — graded as part of its town |
| Locust Valley | Locust Valley Library | — | 58 | — graded as part of its town |
| North Hempstead | Westbury Memorial Public Library | — | 71 | B− |
| Lattingtown | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Matinecock | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Glen Cove Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Glen Cove Public Library serves 28,365 people in and around Glen Cove, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Glen Cove.
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 Glen Cove
Does Glen Cove have a public library?
Yes. Glen Cove Public Library, 4 Glen Cove Avenue, serves 28,365 people in and around Glen Cove (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Glen Cove 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 Glen Cove’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Glen Cove’s civic life grade?
C Glen Cove is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on civic life, #521 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 Glen Cove.
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.