Pauline Felix House · Photo: DanTD · CC BY-SA 3.0Long Beach’s library runs 52 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Long Beach Public Library serves 40,647 people in and around Long Beach from 2 locations. Last year it lent 244K books, movies and e-books and logged 141K visits.
Long Beach’s library, in brief
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Long Beach Public Library ran 2,101 programs last year, about 40 a week. That’s 52 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 41,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
61% of the 2,101 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 689 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Long Beach Public Library spends $100 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans, more per resident than at 81% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 59%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
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; Long Beach Public Library serves 40,647 people in and around Long Beach, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Long Beach’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Long Beach is ahead of 19% of U.S. towns, #640 of 751 in New York. Long Beach is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Long Beach’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($106K–$176K) 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 →
104 community nonprofits are registered in Long Beach
3.0 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 (32 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.8%
5.8% of Long Beach’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 Long Beach’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.
Long Beach Public Library serves 40,647 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Long Beach Public Library system. The library’s own count.
41% of borrowing is digital
244K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
99,812 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Long Beach
Long Beach Public Library, 111 West Park Avenue, Long Beach.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Long Beach Public Library branch.
New in Long Beach? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Long Beach Public Library branches in Long Beach
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Long Beach cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $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 17,058 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach | Long Beach Public Library | — | 63 | C− |
| Lawrence | Peninsula Public Library | — | 64 | B− |
| Lido Beach | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Barnum Island | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| 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. Long Beach Public Library serves 40,647 people in and around Long Beach, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Long Beach.
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 Long Beach
Does Long Beach have a public library?
Yes. Long Beach Public Library, 111 West Park Avenue, serves 40,647 people in and around Long Beach (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Long Beach 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 Long Beach’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 6.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Long Beach’s civic life grade?
C− Long Beach is ahead of 19% of U.S. towns on civic life, #640 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 Long Beach.
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.