Photo: CaptJayRuffins · CC BY-SA 4.0Westhampton Beach’s library runs 272 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Westhampton Free Library serves 6,691 people in and around Westhampton Beach. Last year it lent 132K books, movies and e-books and logged 84K visits.
What Westhampton Beach’s library is like
More library cards than residents
14,493 cards for 6,691 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Eight times the programs of a typical library its size
Westhampton Free Library ran 1,819 programs last year, about 35 a week. That’s 272 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 27,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 57% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 43%. What people borrow ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Westhampton Free Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 8.4 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
Westhampton Free Library spends $503 per resident a year, about 12 times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) 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; Westhampton Free Library serves 6,691 people in and around Westhampton Beach, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Westhampton Beach’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Westhampton Beach is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns. Westhampton Beach is graded on two of the three inputs. Westhampton Beach’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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Westhampton Beach
10.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.8%
3.8% of Westhampton Beach’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 Westhampton Beach’s residents live; 2022.
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 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Westhampton Free Library serves 6,691 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 79 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Westhampton Free Library system. The library’s own count.
57% of borrowing is digital
132K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
75,371 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Westhampton Free Library, 7 Library Avenue, Westhampton Beach.
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 Westhampton Free Library branch.
New in Westhampton Beach? 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 Westhampton Beach cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $3.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.4M 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 14,493 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westhampton Beach | Westhampton Free Library fine-free | — | 32 | B− |
| Quogue | Quogue Library fine-free | — | 48 | — too few inputs |
| Westhampton | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Quiogue | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Westhampton Free Library serves 6,691 people in and around Westhampton Beach, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Westhampton Beach.
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 Westhampton Beach
Does Westhampton Beach have a public library?
Yes. Westhampton Free Library, 7 Library Avenue, serves 6,691 people in and around Westhampton Beach (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Westhampton Free 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 Westhampton Beach’s library?
It logged 12.5 visits and lent 19.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Westhampton Beach’s civic life grade?
B− Westhampton Beach is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Westhampton Beach.
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.