Photo: Antony-22 · CC BY-SA 4.0Wantagh’s library runs 61 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Wantagh Public Library serves 17,667 people in and around Wantagh. Last year it lent 124K books, movies and e-books and logged 135K visits.
Wantagh’s library, in brief
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Wantagh Public Library logs 7.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4.3 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Wantagh Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Wantagh Public Library ran 1,085 programs last year, about 21 a week. That’s 61 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 17,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Wantagh Public Library spends $135 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (97%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Wantagh Public Library serves 17,667 people in and around Wantagh, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Wantagh’s civic life grade
Wantagh 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 9 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Wantagh Public Library serves 17,667 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Wantagh Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
124K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
47,232 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Wantagh Public Library, 3285 Park Avenue, Wantagh.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Wantagh Public Library branch.
New in Wantagh? 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 Wantagh cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 9,546 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wantagh | Wantagh Public Library | — | 60 | — graded as part of its town |
| Bellmore | Bellmore Memorial Library fine-free | — | 61 | — graded as part of its town |
| Seaford | Seaford Public Library | — | 53 | — graded as part of its town |
| North Bellmore | North Bellmore Public Library fine-free | — | 63 | — graded as part of its town |
| North Wantagh | 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. Wantagh Public Library serves 17,667 people in and around Wantagh, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wantagh.
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 Wantagh
Does Wantagh have a public library?
Yes. Wantagh Public Library, 3285 Park Avenue, serves 17,667 people in and around Wantagh (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wantagh 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 Wantagh’s library?
It logged 7.6 visits and lent 7.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Wantagh’s civic life grade?
Wantagh 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 Wantagh.
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.