Photo: LINYperson615 · CC BY-SA 4.0South Farmingdale’s library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Farmingdale Public Library serves 41,196 people in and around South Farmingdale. Last year it lent 237K books, movies and e-books and logged 282K visits.
The short version on South Farmingdale’s library
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Farmingdale Public Library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Open about 67 hours a week
The South Farmingdale branch is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
A well-funded system
Farmingdale Public Library spends $93 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) 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; Farmingdale Public Library serves 41,196 people in and around South Farmingdale, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind South Farmingdale’s civic life grade
South Farmingdale 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 68 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Farmingdale 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.
Farmingdale Public Library serves 41,196 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
237K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
70,916 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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
Farmingdale Public Library, 116 Merritts Road, Farmingdale.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Farmingdale Public Library branch.
New in South Farmingdale? 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 South Farmingdale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.8M 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 25,327 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Farmingdale | Farmingdale Public Library | — | 67 | — graded as part of its town |
| North Massapequa | Plainedge Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | — graded as part of its town |
| Massapequa Park | Massapequa Public Library | — | 68 | B |
| Plainedge | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| East Massapequa | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Farmingdale | None of its own | — | — | C |
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. Farmingdale Public Library serves 41,196 people in and around South Farmingdale, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just South Farmingdale.
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 South Farmingdale
Does South Farmingdale have a public library?
Yes. Farmingdale Public Library, 116 Merritts Road, serves 41,196 people in and around South Farmingdale (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Farmingdale 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 South Farmingdale’s library?
It logged 6.8 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is South Farmingdale’s civic life grade?
South Farmingdale 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 South Farmingdale.
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.