Photo: AITFFan1 · CC BY-SA 4.0Uniondale’s library runs 34 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Uniondale Public Library serves 33,571 people in and around Uniondale. Last year it lent 74K books, movies and e-books and logged 65K visits.
Uniondale’s library, in brief
Well funded, but lightly used
Uniondale Public Library spends $132 per resident, more than 96% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 66% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Uniondale Public Library ran 1,155 programs last year, about 22 a week. That’s 34 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. 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; Uniondale Public Library serves 33,571 people in and around Uniondale, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Uniondale’s civic life grade
Uniondale 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 →
About 8 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Uniondale Public Library serves 33,571 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Uniondale Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
74K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
18,221 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Uniondale Public Library, 400 Uniondale Avenue, Uniondale.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Uniondale Public Library branch.
New in Uniondale? 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 Uniondale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.4M 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 21,919 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden City | Garden City Public Library | 9.2 | 62 | B+ |
| Hempstead | Hempstead Public Library | 0.8 | 57 | D |
| Uniondale | Uniondale Public Library | — | 60 | — graded as part of its town |
| East Meadow | East Meadow Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | — graded as part of its town |
| Roosevelt | Roosevelt Public Library fine-free | — | 62 | — graded as part of its town |
| Hempstead | Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library | — | 69 | C− |
| North Hempstead | Westbury Memorial Public Library | — | 71 | B− |
| Baldwin | Baldwin Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | — graded as part of its town |
| Carle Place | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| North Merrick | 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. Uniondale Public Library serves 33,571 people in and around Uniondale, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Uniondale.
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 Uniondale
Does Uniondale have a public library?
Yes. Uniondale Public Library, 400 Uniondale Avenue, serves 33,571 people in and around Uniondale (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Uniondale 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 Uniondale’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Uniondale’s civic life grade?
Uniondale 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 Uniondale.
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.