Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Southampton’s library runs 97 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Hampton Bays Public Library serves 14,587 people in and around Southampton. Last year it lent 100K books, movies and e-books and logged 115K visits.
Southampton’s library, in brief
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Hampton Bays Public Library ran 1,417 programs last year, about 27 a week. That’s 97 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 19,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 93% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 48%. The building also logs about 195 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 93% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
45% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 45% of loans, more per resident than at 89% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 55%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Hampton Bays Public Library spends $170 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Southampton branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
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; Hampton Bays Public Library serves 14,587 people in and around Southampton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Southampton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Southampton is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #407 of 751 in New York. Southampton is graded on two of the three inputs. Southampton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
411 community nonprofits are registered in Southampton
5.9 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 (51 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.1%
5.1% of Southampton’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 Southampton’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Hampton Bays Public Library serves 14,587 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hampton Bays Public Library system. The library’s own count.
45% of borrowing is digital
100K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
45,362 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
6 places to borrow in Southampton
Hampton Bays Public Library, 52 Ponquogue Avenue, Hampton Bays.
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 Hampton Bays Public Library branch.
New in Southampton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Hampton Bays Public Library branches in Southampton
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Southampton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 11,126 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southampton | Hampton Bays Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C+ |
| Riverhead | Riverhead Free Library fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| Brookhaven | Emma S. Clark Memorial Library fine-free | — | 73 | C+ |
| East Hampton | Montauk Library fine-free | — | 61 | B+ |
| Riverside | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Fire Island | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wainscott | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| West Hampton Dunes | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Calverton | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Sagaponack | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Flanders | 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. Hampton Bays Public Library serves 14,587 people in and around Southampton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Southampton.
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 Southampton
Does Southampton have a public library?
Yes. Hampton Bays Public Library, 52 Ponquogue Avenue, serves 14,587 people in and around Southampton (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hampton Bays Public 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 Southampton’s library?
It logged 7.9 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Southampton’s civic life grade?
C+ Southampton is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #407 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 Southampton.
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.