Photo: Intelligentlove at English Wikipedia · Public domainPatchogue’s library logs 5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Patchogue-Medford Library serves 51,789 people in and around Patchogue from 2 locations. Last year it lent 195K books, movies and e-books and logged 260K visits.
The short version on Patchogue’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 87% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 21%. The building also logs about 342 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 72% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 58% of loans, more per resident than at 76% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 42%. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Patchogue-Medford Library spends $182 per resident a year, about five times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) 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; Patchogue-Medford Library serves 51,789 people in and around Patchogue, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Patchogue’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Patchogue is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #655 of 751 in New York. Patchogue is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Patchogue’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($80K–$134K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Patchogue
2.8 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of Patchogue’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 Patchogue’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Patchogue cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $9.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M 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 26,540 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
Patchogue-Medford Library serves 51,789 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Patchogue-Medford Library system. The library’s own count.
58% of borrowing is digital
195K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
112,795 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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 Patchogue
Patchogue-Medford Library, 54-60 East Main Street, Patchogue.
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 Patchogue-Medford Library branch.
New in Patchogue? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Patchogue-Medford Library branches in Patchogue
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patchogue | Patchogue-Medford Library fine-free | — | 59 | C− |
| Blue Point | Bayport-Blue Point Public Library fine-free | — | 67 | — graded as part of its town |
| North Patchogue | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| East Patchogue | 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. Patchogue-Medford Library serves 51,789 people in and around Patchogue, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Patchogue.
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 Patchogue
Does Patchogue have a public library?
Yes. Patchogue-Medford Library, 54-60 East Main Street, serves 51,789 people in and around Patchogue (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Patchogue-Medford 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 Patchogue’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Patchogue’s civic life grade?
C− Patchogue is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #655 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 Patchogue.
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.