Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library
Plainview’s library is the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library, a branch of Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library, which serves 30,413 people and lent 393K items last year.
What stands out about Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
About 5 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.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
393K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
152,181 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plainview cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.9M 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 22,999 cardholders ÷ 12.
Every hour the doors are open, about 106 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 8 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.
Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library serves 30,413 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Find it
Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library, 999 Old Country Road, Plainview.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library branch.
New in Plainview? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plainview | Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library | — | 71 |
| Bethpage | Bethpage Public Library | — | 69 |
| Melville | Melville Branch fine-free | — | 61 |
| Oyster Bay | Syosset Public Library | — | 68 |
| Huntington | Harborfields Public Library fine-free | — | 62 |
| Syosset | Syosset Public Library | — | 68 |
| Woodbury | None of its own | — | — |
| Old Bethpage | None of its own | — | — |
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.
About these numbers
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
- Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
- 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.
- System-wide. Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library is one branch of Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 30,413 people it serves.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Plainview.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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.