Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Shelter Island’s library logs 27 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Shelter Island Public Library Society serves Shelter Island’s 3,253 residents. Last year it lent 61K books, movies and e-books and logged 89K visits.
Shelter Island’s library, in brief
Shelter Island has the most-used library in New York
Out of 241 New York towns with a library of their own, Shelter Island comes first for visits per resident. It’s also #4 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
Nine times the programs of a typical library its size
Shelter Island Public Library Society ran 960 programs last year, about 18 a week. That’s 295 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 12,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Shelter Island uses its library more than almost any town its size
Shelter Island Public Library Society logs 27 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
46% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 46% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 54%. What people borrow ↓
Shelter Island invests in its library
Shelter Island Public Library Society spends $274 per resident a year, about six times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) 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.
What’s behind Shelter Island’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Shelter Island is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #1 of 751 in New York. All three inputs put Shelter Island near the top nationally; library visits rank highest.
Shelter Island Public Library Society logged 27.5 visits per resident in FY2024, #11 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
49 community nonprofits are registered in Shelter Island
14.7 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.0%
14.0% of Shelter Island’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 Shelter Island’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Shelter Island last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Shelter Island Public Library Society serves 3,253 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
46% of borrowing is digital
61K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 23K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
28,139 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Shelter Island Public Library Society, 37 North Ferry Road, Shelter Island.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Shelter Island? 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 $1.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Shelter Island cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $891K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $891K 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 2,338 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelter Island | Shelter Island Public Library Society fine-free | 18.6 | 53 | A+ |
| Southold | Floyd Memorial Library fine-free | — | 64 | A |
| East Hampton | Montauk Library fine-free | — | 61 | B+ |
| Southampton | Hampton Bays Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C+ |
| Shelter Island Heights | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Northwest Harbor | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Greenport West | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| East Marion | 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 count everyone. Shelter Island’s 89,407 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Shelter Island Public Library Society counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Shelter Island
Does Shelter Island have a public library?
Yes. Shelter Island Public Library Society, 37 North Ferry Road, serves Shelter Island’s 3,253 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shelter Island Public Library Society 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 Shelter Island’s library?
It logged 27.5 visits and lent 18.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Its visits per resident rank #11 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare.
What is Shelter Island’s civic life grade?
A+ Shelter Island is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1 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 Shelter Island.
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.