Photo: LINYperson615 · CC BY-SA 4.0Herricks’ library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Shelter Rock Public Library serves 27,928 people in and around Herricks. Last year it lent 276K books, movies and e-books and logged 189K visits.
The short version on Herricks’s library
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Shelter Rock Public Library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 65% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Shelter Rock Public Library spends $121 per resident a year, about three times the typical $40 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; Shelter Rock Public Library serves 27,928 people in and around Herricks, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Herricks’ civic life grade
Herricks 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 84 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Shelter Rock Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Shelter Rock Public Library serves 27,928 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
276K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
91,964 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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
Shelter Rock Public Library, 165 Searingtown Road, Albertson.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Shelter Rock Public Library branch.
New in Herricks? 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 Herricks cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.4M 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 11,164 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williston Park | Williston Park Public Library | 5.6 | 39 | C− |
| Herricks | Shelter Rock Public Library | — | 63 | — graded as part of its town |
| Manhasset Hills | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Searingtown | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Garden City Park | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Albertson | 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. Shelter Rock Public Library serves 27,928 people in and around Herricks, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Herricks.
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 Herricks
Does Herricks have a public library?
Yes. Shelter Rock Public Library, 165 Searingtown Road, serves 27,928 people in and around Herricks (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shelter Rock 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 Herricks’ library?
It logged 6.8 visits and lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Herricks’ civic life grade?
Herricks 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 Herricks.
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.