Photo: DanTD · CC BY-SA 3.0Islip’s library runs 63 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Connetquot Public Library serves 38,927 people in and around Islip. Last year it lent 257K books, movies and e-books and logged 193K visits.
What Islip’s library is like
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Connetquot Public Library ran 2,461 programs last year, about 47 a week. That’s 63 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 47,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 52% of loans, more per resident than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 48%. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Connetquot Public Library spends $162 per resident a year, about four times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 71 hours a week
The Islip branch is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Programs lean toward adults
52% of the 2,461 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 666 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; Connetquot Public Library serves 38,927 people in and around Islip, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Islip’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Islip is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #545 of 751 in New York. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #170. 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 ($98K–$163K) 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 →
962 community nonprofits are registered in Islip
2.8 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 (254 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 43 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.1%
5.1% of Islip’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 Islip’s residents live; 2022.
About 13 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Connetquot Public Library serves 38,927 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 70 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Connetquot Public Library system. The library’s own count.
52% of borrowing is digital
257K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
133,992 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
9 places to borrow in Islip
Connetquot Public Library, 760 Ocean Avenue, Bohemia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Connetquot Public Library branch.
New in Islip? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Connetquot Public Library branches in Islip
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Islip cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.3M 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 19,215 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Islip | Connetquot Public Library fine-free | — | 71 | C |
| Brookhaven | Emma S. Clark Memorial Library fine-free | — | 73 | C+ |
| Babylon | Lindenhurst Memorial Library fine-free | — | 68 | C− |
| West Islip | West Islip Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | — graded as part of its town |
| Babylon | Babylon Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | B |
| Smithtown | The Smithtown Library fine-free | — | 67 | B− |
| Bayport | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Great River | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| West Sayville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Ronkonkoma | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Lake Ronkonkoma | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Connetquot Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Connetquot Public Library serves 38,927 people in and around Islip, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Islip.
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 Islip
Does Islip have a public library?
Yes. Connetquot Public Library, 760 Ocean Avenue, serves 38,927 people in and around Islip (the survey’s count) and is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Connetquot 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 Islip’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Islip’s civic life grade?
C Islip is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #545 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 Islip.
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.