Syosset’s library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Syosset Public Library serves 35,408 people in and around Syosset. Last year it lent 397K books, movies and e-books and logged 259K visits.
The short version on Syosset’s library
More library cards than residents
38,484 cards for 35,408 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Syosset Public Library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 96% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.3 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. It’s 35% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Syosset Public Library spends $180 per resident a year, about five times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
The Syosset branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Syosset Public Library serves 35,408 people in and around Syosset, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Syosset’s civic life grade
Syosset 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 112 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Syosset 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.
Syosset Public Library serves 35,408 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
397K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
139,801 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Syosset Public Library, 225 South Oyster Bay Road, Syosset.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Syosset Public Library branch.
New in Syosset? 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 $1.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Syosset cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.4M 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 38,484 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syosset | Syosset Public Library | — | 68 | — graded as part of its town |
| Jericho | Jericho Public Library | — | 68 | — graded as part of its town |
| Hicksville | Hicksville Public Library fine-free | — | 63 | — graded as part of its town |
| Plainview | Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library | — | 71 | — graded as part of its town |
| Muttontown | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Oyster Bay Cove | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Woodbury | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Laurel Hollow | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| East Norwich | 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. Syosset Public Library serves 35,408 people in and around Syosset, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Syosset.
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 Syosset
Does Syosset have a public library?
Yes. Syosset Public Library, 225 South Oyster Bay Road, serves 35,408 people in and around Syosset (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Syosset 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 Syosset’s library?
It logged 7.3 visits and lent 11.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Syosset’s civic life grade?
Syosset 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 Syosset.
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.