Plainview’s library runs 43 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library serves 30,413 people in and around Plainview. Last year it lent 393K books, movies and e-books and logged 161K visits.
The short version on Plainview’s library
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library ran 1,321 programs last year, about 25 a week. That’s 43 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 37,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. It’s 39% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library spends $194 per resident a year, about five times the typical $40 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 71 hours a week
The Plainview branch is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library logs 5.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.9 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library serves 30,413 people in and around Plainview, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Plainview’s civic life grade
Plainview 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 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library serves 30,413 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 106 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
393K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
152,181 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library, 999 Old Country Road, Plainview.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library branch.
New in Plainview? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plainview cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.9M 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 22,999 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainview | Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library | — | 71 | — graded as part of its town |
| Bethpage | Bethpage Public Library | — | 69 | — graded as part of its town |
| Melville | Melville Branch fine-free | — | 61 | — graded as part of its town |
| Oyster Bay | Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library | — | 71 | B |
| Huntington | Huntington Public Library fine-free | — | 72 | B+ |
| Syosset | Syosset Public Library | — | 68 | — graded as part of its town |
| Woodbury | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Old Bethpage | 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. Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library serves 30,413 people in and around Plainview, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Plainview.
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 Plainview
Does Plainview have a public library?
Yes. Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library, 999 Old Country Road, serves 30,413 people in and around Plainview (the survey’s count) and is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plainview-Old Bethpage 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 Plainview’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 12.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Plainview’s civic life grade?
Plainview 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 Plainview.
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.