John Philip Sousa House · Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0North Hempstead’s library runs 60 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Westbury Memorial Public Library serves 27,050 people in and around North Hempstead from 2 locations. Last year it lent 106K books, movies and e-books and logged 146K visits.
The short version on North Hempstead’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 90% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 35%. The building also logs about 28 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 96% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Westbury Memorial Public Library ran 1,631 programs last year, about 31 a week. That’s 60 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 30,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 71 hours a week
The North Hempstead branch is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
A well-funded system
Westbury Memorial Public Library spends $125 per resident a year, about three times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) 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; Westbury Memorial Public Library serves 27,050 people in and around North Hempstead, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind North Hempstead’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, North Hempstead is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #330 of 751 in New York. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #75. Library visits hold 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 →
1,020 community nonprofits are registered in North Hempstead
4.3 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 (304 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 98 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.3%
5.3% of North Hempstead’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 North Hempstead’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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.
Westbury Memorial Public Library serves 27,050 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Westbury Memorial Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
106K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
35,434 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
14 places to borrow in North Hempstead
Westbury Memorial Public Library, 445 Jefferson Street, Westbury.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Westbury Memorial Public Library branch.
New in North Hempstead? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Westbury Memorial Public Library branches in North Hempstead
And 1 more in North Hempstead.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average North Hempstead cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.4M 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 17,571 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden City | Garden City Public Library | 9.2 | 62 | B+ |
| North Hempstead | Westbury Memorial Public Library | — | 71 | B− |
| Oyster Bay | Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library | — | 71 | B |
| Hempstead | Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library | — | 69 | C− |
| New York | Brooklyn Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| University Gardens | Great Neck Library - Lakeville Branch fine-free | — | 54 | — graded as part of its town |
| Jericho | Jericho Public Library | — | 68 | — graded as part of its town |
| North New Hyde Park | Great Neck Library - Parkville Branch fine-free | — | 23 | — graded as part of its town |
| Westbury | Westbury Memorial Public Library | — | 71 | D |
| Uniondale | Uniondale Public Library | — | 60 | — graded as part of its town |
| New Cassel | 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. Westbury Memorial Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Westbury Memorial Public Library serves 27,050 people in and around North Hempstead, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just North Hempstead.
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 North Hempstead
Does North Hempstead have a public library?
Yes. Westbury Memorial Public Library, 445 Jefferson Street, serves 27,050 people in and around North Hempstead (the survey’s count) and is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Westbury Memorial 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 North Hempstead’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is North Hempstead’s civic life grade?
B− North Hempstead is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on civic life, #330 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 North Hempstead.
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.