Photo: Usa1926 · CC BY-SA 4.0Island Park’s library logs 9.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Island Park Public Library serves 8,954 people in and around Island Park. Last year it lent 43K books, movies and e-books and logged 83K visits.
Island Park’s library, in brief
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Island Park Public Library logs 9.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is closer to typical, at 3.7 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
Island Park Public Library spends $169 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
60% of the 783 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 275 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; Island Park Public Library serves 8,954 people in and around Island Park, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Island Park’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Island Park is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #408 of 751 in New York. Island Park is graded on two of the three inputs. Island Park’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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Island Park
4.0 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.9%
6.9% of Island Park’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 Island Park’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Island Park Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Island Park Public Library serves 8,954 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
43K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,723 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Island Park Public Library, 176 Long Beach Road, Island Park.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Island Park Public Library branch.
New in Island Park? 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 Island Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $816K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 4,802 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Island Park | Island Park Public Library | — | 54 | C+ |
| Harbor Isle | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Barnum Island | 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. Island Park Public Library serves 8,954 people in and around Island Park, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Island Park.
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 Island Park
Does Island Park have a public library?
Yes. Island Park Public Library, 176 Long Beach Road, serves 8,954 people in and around Island Park (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Island Park 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 Island Park’s library?
It logged 9.3 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Island Park’s civic life grade?
C+ Island Park is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #408 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 Island Park.
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.