Valley Stream’s library lends 1.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Henry Waldinger Memorial Library serves Valley Stream’s 40,634 residents. Last year it lent 98K books, movies and e-books and logged 70K visits.
Valley Stream’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Henry Waldinger Memorial Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 66% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
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.
What’s behind Valley Stream’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Valley Stream is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #588 of 751 in New York. Valley Stream’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($100K–$166K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
201 community nonprofits are registered in Valley Stream
5.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (63 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 25 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.6%
4.6% of Valley Stream’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 Valley Stream’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Henry Waldinger Memorial Library serves 40,634 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
98K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 87K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
23,645 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Valley Stream last year.
Find it
Henry Waldinger Memorial Library, 60 Verona Place, Valley Stream.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Valley Stream? 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 Valley Stream cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 13,057 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Valley Stream ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malverne | Malverne Public Library | 7.3 | 51 | B |
| Lynbrook | Lynbrook Public Library | 6.1 | 55 | C+ |
| Valley Stream | Henry Waldinger Memorial Library | 2.4 | 55 | C− |
| Hewlett | Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library | — | 69 | — graded as part of its town |
| Hempstead | Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library | — | 69 | C− |
| New York | Brooklyn Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| North Valley Stream | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| South Valley Stream | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Woodmere | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Valley Stream
Does Valley Stream have a public library?
Yes. Henry Waldinger Memorial Library, 60 Verona Place, serves Valley Stream’s 40,634 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Henry Waldinger Memorial 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 Valley Stream’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Valley Stream’s civic life grade?
C− Valley Stream is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #588 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 Valley Stream.
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.