Photo: AITFFan1 · CC BY-SA 4.0Lawrence’s library lends 8.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Peninsula Public Library serves 39,114 people in and around Lawrence. Last year it lent 390K books, movies and e-books and logged 58K visits.
The short version on Lawrence’s library
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 78%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Lawrence branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
51% of the 503 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 230 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; Peninsula Public Library serves 39,114 people in and around Lawrence, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lawrence’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lawrence is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #391 of 751 in New York. Lawrence is graded on two of the three inputs. Lawrence’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 →
68 community nonprofits are registered in Lawrence
10.0 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 (54 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 13 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.9%
2.9% of Lawrence’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 Lawrence’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.
Peninsula Public Library serves 39,114 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 117 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Peninsula Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
390K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
49,927 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Peninsula Public Library, 280 Central Avenue, Lawrence.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Peninsula Public Library branch.
New in Lawrence? 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 $1.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lawrence cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.1M 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 13,023 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence | Peninsula Public Library | — | 64 | B− |
| Hempstead | Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library | — | 69 | C− |
| New York | Brooklyn Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| Long Beach | Long Beach Public Library | — | 63 | C− |
| Inwood | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Woodmere | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Cedarhurst | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Woodsburgh | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Atlantic Beach | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| East Atlantic Beach | 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. Peninsula Public Library serves 39,114 people in and around Lawrence, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lawrence.
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 Lawrence
Does Lawrence have a public library?
Yes. Peninsula Public Library, 280 Central Avenue, serves 39,114 people in and around Lawrence (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Peninsula 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 Lawrence’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 10.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lawrence’s civic life grade?
B− Lawrence is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #391 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 Lawrence.
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.