Photo: CaptJayRuffins · CC BY-SA 4.0Oceanside’s library runs 52 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Oceanside Library serves 37,459 people in and around Oceanside. Last year it lent 304K books, movies and e-books and logged 149K visits.
Oceanside’s library, in brief
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Oceanside Library ran 1,942 programs last year, about 37 a week. That’s 52 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 38,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Oceanside Library spends $134 per resident a year, about three times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) 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; Oceanside Library serves 37,459 people in and around Oceanside, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Oceanside’s civic life grade
Oceanside 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 →
About 14 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Oceanside Library serves 37,459 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 84 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Oceanside Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
304K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
81,348 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Oceanside Library, 26 Atlantic Avenue, Oceanside.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Oceanside Library branch.
New in Oceanside? 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 Oceanside cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5M 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 18,564 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Rockaway | East Rockaway Public Library | 7.3 | 55 | B+ |
| Oceanside | Oceanside Library fine-free | — | 63 | — graded as part of its town |
| Baldwin | Baldwin Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | — graded as part of its town |
| Rockville Centre | Rockville Centre Public Library | — | 64 | B+ |
| Bay Park | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Barnum Island | 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. Oceanside Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Oceanside Library serves 37,459 people in and around Oceanside, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Oceanside.
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 Oceanside
Does Oceanside have a public library?
Yes. Oceanside Library, 26 Atlantic Avenue, serves 37,459 people in and around Oceanside (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oceanside 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 Oceanside’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 8.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Oceanside’s civic life grade?
Oceanside 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 Oceanside.
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.