Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Southampton’s library runs 128 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Rogers Memorial Library serves 17,325 people in and around Southampton. Last year it lent 157K books, movies and e-books and logged 116K visits.
Southampton’s library, in brief
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Rogers Memorial Library ran 2,222 programs last year, about 43 a week. That’s 128 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 31,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 55% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 45%. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Rogers Memorial Library spends $269 per resident a year, about six times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Rogers Memorial Library logs 6.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
60% of the 2,222 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 671 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Rogers Memorial Library serves 17,325 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 77% of U.S. towns, #152 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 →
68 community nonprofits are registered in Southampton
14.7 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% 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 13 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Rogers Memorial Library serves 17,325 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 50 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rogers Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
55% of borrowing is digital
157K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
86,846 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Rogers Memorial Library, 91 Coopers Farm Road, Southampton.
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 Rogers Memorial Library branch.
New in Southampton? 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 Southampton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $4.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.7M 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 9,287 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 | Rogers Memorial Library fine-free | — | 61 | A− |
| Water Mill | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| North Sea | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Shinnecock Hills | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Tuckahoe | 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. Rogers Memorial Library serves 17,325 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. Rogers Memorial Library, 91 Coopers Farm Road, serves 17,325 people in and around Southampton (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rogers Memorial 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 6.7 visits and lent 9.0 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?
A− Southampton is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns on civic life, #152 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.