Williston Park’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Williston Park Public Library serves Williston Park’s 7,591 residents. Last year it lent 43K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,638 visits.
What Williston Park’s library is like
47% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 47% of loans, more per resident than at 86% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 53%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Williston Park Public Library records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, below 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 3 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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 Williston Park’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Williston Park is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #595 of 751 in New York. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Williston Park’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($117K–$195K) 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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Williston Park
3.5 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.8%
7.8% of Williston Park’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 Williston Park’s residents live; 2022.
47% of borrowing is digital
43K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
20,006 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Williston Park Public Library serves 7,591 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
123 programs a year
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 Williston Park last year.
Find it
Williston Park Public Library, 494 Willis Avenue, Williston Park.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Williston Park? 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 $1.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Williston Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $511K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $655K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $511K 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 3,441 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Williston Park ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Williston | East Williston Public Library fine-free | 9.7 | 29 | B+ |
| Williston Park | Williston Park Public Library | 5.6 | 39 | C− |
| Mineola | Mineola Memorial Library | 4.3 | 55 | C |
| Herricks | Shelter Rock Public Library | — | 63 | — graded as part of its town |
| Albertson | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Williston Park Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Williston Park
Does Williston Park have a public library?
Yes. Williston Park Public Library, 494 Willis Avenue, serves Williston Park’s 7,591 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Williston Park 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 Williston Park’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 5.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Williston Park’s civic life grade?
C− Williston Park is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #595 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 Williston Park.
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.