The Port Washington Public Library has been serving the community since 1892 when it was housed in a local family's front parlor. Today, the library is a modern service-oriented institution - named by a national consortium of professional librarians as one of the 50 best in the nation.

The library serves the Port Washington School District and is funded primarily by local taxes levied on real estate. There is no charge for school district residents to join. As the library is member of the Nassau Library System, the Port Washington Public Library card entitles residents to borrow materials from any public library in Nassau County and materials borrowed from other Nassau libraries may be returned here.