Photo: Fife Club · CC BY 3.0Northport’s library logs 7.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Northport Public Library serves 35,626 people in and around Northport. Last year it lent 383K books, movies and e-books and logged 279K visits.
The short version on Northport’s library
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 55% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 45%. What people borrow ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Northport Public Library logs 7.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 96% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Northport Public Library ran 1,471 programs last year, about 28 a week. That’s 41 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 32,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Northport Public Library spends $265 per resident a year, about seven times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 70 hours a week
The Northport branch is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Northport Public Library serves 35,626 people in and around Northport, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Northport’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Northport is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #79 of 751 in New York. Northport is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
31 community nonprofits are registered in Northport
4.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
15.6%
15.6% of Northport’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 Northport’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 52 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Northport Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Northport Public Library serves 35,626 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
55% of borrowing is digital
383K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
211,262 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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.
Find it
Northport-East Northport Public Library, 151 Laurel Avenue, Northport.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Northport Public Library branch.
New in Northport? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Northport cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $9.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.4M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 23,389 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northport | Northport-East Northport Public Library fine-free | — | 70 | A |
| East Northport | East Northport Public Library fine-free | — | 70 | — graded as part of its town |
| Fort Salonga | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Centerport | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Asharoken | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Northport Public Library serves 35,626 people in and around Northport, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Northport.
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 Northport
Does Northport have a public library?
Yes. Northport Public Library, 151 Laurel Avenue, serves 35,626 people in and around Northport (the survey’s count) and is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northport Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Northport’s library?
It logged 7.8 visits and lent 10.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Northport’s civic life grade?
A Northport is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life, #79 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 Northport.
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.