Photo: Dllu · CC BY-SA 4.0New York City has three public library systems and 198 branches
The New York Public Library (Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island), Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library serve 8.8 million people. In 2024 they logged 24.8 million visits and lent 35.1 million books, e-books and other items.
New York City’s libraries, in brief
Three systems, 198 buildings
The New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library serve 8.8 million people from 198 buildings. Each issues its own card. Three systems ↓
Busier than most big systems
Together they logged 2.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for systems serving 100,000+. NYPL leads at 3.4. Three systems ↓
37% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 37% of loans across the three systems. What people borrow ↓
Brooklyn’s Central Library is a National Register landmark
Brooklyn Public Library-Central Building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2002. The building ↓
Written from the numbers on this page: each system’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
One city, three library systems
Each system reports its own figures, so the city is shown by system: numbers by borough, no extra letters. Typical for systems serving 100,000+: 2.1 visits and 3.2 print loans per resident.
| System | People served | Buildings | Visits per resident | Loans per resident | Programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The New York Public Library Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island | 3.66M | 84 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 90,400 |
| Brooklyn Public Library Brooklyn | 2.74M | 54 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 40,242 |
| Queens Public Library Queens | 2.41M | 60 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 43,488 |
| All three | 8.80M | 198 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 174,130 |
- The New York Public Library: Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street
- Brooklyn Public Library: Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza
- Queens Public Library: Queens Public Library Central, 89-11 Merrick Boulevard
IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024: each system’s own report. Loans = print + digital. Central buildings as the survey lists them.
What’s behind New York City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, New York City is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #651 of 751 in New York State. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #231. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
The library figure combines the city’s three systems: 24.8 million visits for the 8.8 million people they serve, 2.8 per resident, against a typical 2.1 for systems serving 100,000+. The grade compares it with every U.S. town library, most of them in small towns, where visits per resident run higher (median 3.4). New York City’s nonprofit count leaves out 3,446 organizations registered here that name a national, international or statewide reach.
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 →
23,863 community nonprofits are registered in New York City
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 (12,064 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3,446 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.7%
4.7% of New York City’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York State 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 New York City’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2002
Brooklyn’s Central Library. The other systems’ central buildings are under Three systems.
Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Brooklyn Public Library branch.
New in New York City? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Brooklyn Public Library-Central Building
Brooklyn Public Library-Central Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 11, 2002. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Modern Movement.
The Central Library, originally the Ingersoll Memorial Library, is the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library in Brooklyn, New York City. Located on Grand Army Plaza, at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway, it contains over 1.7 million items in its collection and has a million annual visitors.
More about the building →Other Brooklyn Public Library branches
And 41 more Brooklyn branches. NYPL and Queens are under Three systems.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, the three systems together, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
The three systems serve 8,804,190 people, so they’re measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+. Each system alone is in the same group; their own figures are under Three systems.
Every hour the doors are open, about 80 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for all three systems together. Each system’s own count.
“Every open hour” divides by the yearly open hours of all 198 buildings.
37% of borrowing is digital
35.1M loans last year across the three systems: print, kids’ and digital.
13,076,389 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. All three systems lend them with a card, plus research databases.
About 1,237 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events across the three systems, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New York City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budgets $676M together.
Last year the three systems lent and hosted about $569M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on $676M of budgets.
Fine-free. All three systems charge no late fees.
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 ÷ their 4,498,002 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yonkers | Riverfront Library fine-free | 3.0 | 58 | D |
| New York City | Brooklyn Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| Hempstead | Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library | — | 69 | C− |
| Mount Vernon | Mount Vernon Public Library | — | — | D |
| North Hempstead | Westbury Memorial Public Library | — | 71 | B− |
| Lawrence | Peninsula Public Library | — | 64 | B− |
| University Gardens | Great Neck Library - Lakeville Branch fine-free | — | 54 | — graded as part of its town |
| Elmont | Elmont Public Library | — | 60 | — graded as part of its town |
| Woodmere | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Inwood | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| South Valley Stream | 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.
- Three systems, one city. Every figure on this page adds the three systems’ own reports, except the building section (Brooklyn’s Central Library).
- Nonprofits with a wide reach. 3,446 organizations registered in the city name a national, international or statewide scope and are left out of the count; congregations are counted apart.
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 New York City
Which library system serves my borough?
The New York Public Library serves Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island (84 buildings); Brooklyn Public Library serves Brooklyn (54); Queens Public Library serves Queens (60).
Are New York City libraries fine-free?
Yes. All three systems report no late fees, and all three lend e-books and audiobooks.
How busy are New York City’s libraries?
Together they logged 2.8 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024. NYPL logged 3.4 visits per resident, Queens 2.7 and Brooklyn 2.2, against a typical 2.1 for systems serving 100,000+.
What is New York City’s civic life grade?
C− New York City is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #651 of 751 in New York State. 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 New York City.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.