Photo: Sullynyflhi · Public domainMerrick’s library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
North Merrick Public Library serves 13,707 people in and around Merrick. Last year it lent 111K books, movies and e-books and logged 93K visits.
The short version on Merrick’s library
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
North Merrick Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
North Merrick Public Library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
North Merrick Public Library spends $165 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 ↓
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; North Merrick Public Library serves 13,707 people in and around Merrick, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Merrick’s civic life grade
Merrick 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 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole North Merrick Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
North Merrick Public Library serves 13,707 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
111K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
28,636 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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.
2 places to borrow in Merrick
North Merrick Public Library, 1691 Meadowbrook Road, North Merrick.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every North Merrick Public Library branch.
New in Merrick? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other North Merrick Public Library branches in Merrick
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Merrick cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 6,201 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merrick | North Merrick Public Library | — | 62 | — graded as part of its town |
| Freeport | Freeport Memorial Library | — | 66 | D |
| Bellmore | Bellmore Memorial Library fine-free | — | 61 | — graded as part of its town |
| Roosevelt | Roosevelt Public Library fine-free | — | 62 | — graded as part of its town |
| North Bellmore | North Bellmore Public Library fine-free | — | 63 | — graded as part of its town |
| North Merrick | 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. North Merrick Public Library serves 13,707 people in and around Merrick, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Merrick.
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 Merrick
Does Merrick have a public library?
Yes. North Merrick Public Library, 1691 Meadowbrook Road, serves 13,707 people in and around Merrick (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is North Merrick 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 Merrick’s library?
It logged 6.8 visits and lent 8.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Merrick’s civic life grade?
Merrick 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 Merrick.
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.