Glen Head’s library is a branch of Gold Coast Public Library District, which lends less per resident than 53% of systems its size
Glen Head’s library is the Gold Coast Public Library, a branch of Gold Coast Public Library District, which serves 11,574 people and lent 89K items last year.
Glen Head’s library, in brief
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 52% of loans, more per resident than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 48%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
The Gold Coast Public Library District system charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
The Glen Head branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
A well-funded system
The Gold Coast Public Library District system spends $154 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (86%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
51% of the 593 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 210 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 Head’s library is a branch of Gold Coast Public Library District, so they cover the whole system (11,574 people), not just the Glen Head branch.
What’s behind Glen Head’s civic life grade
Glen Head 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 →
52% of borrowing is digital
89K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
46,253 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Gold Coast Public Library District serves 11,574 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Gold Coast Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
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.
Find it
Gold Coast Public Library, 50 Railroad Avenue, Glen Head.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Gold Coast Public Library District branch.
New in Glen Head? 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 Head cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 6,731 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 Head | Gold Coast Public Library | — | 68 | — graded as part of its town |
| Glen Cove | Glen Cove Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C |
| Oyster Bay | Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library | — | 71 | B |
| Old Brookville | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Glenwood Landing | 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. Gold Coast Public Library is one branch of Gold Coast Public Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 11,574 people it serves.
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 Head
Does Glen Head have a public library?
Yes: Gold Coast Public Library, 50 Railroad Avenue, is a branch of Gold Coast Public Library District, which serves 11,574 people. The branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gold Coast Public Library District 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 Glen Head’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 7.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Glen Head’s civic life grade?
Glen Head 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 Glen Head.
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.