Photo: EvanSheppard · CC BY 4.0Allendale’s library logs 9.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Lee Memorial Library serves Allendale’s 6,848 residents. Last year it lent 92K books, movies and e-books and logged 68K visits.
Allendale’s library, in brief
Allendale uses its library more than almost any town its size
Lee Memorial Library logs 9.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in New Jersey for borrowing
Allendale ranks #16 of 234 New Jersey towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 10 items per resident, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 25% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 46% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 17 items per child in Allendale last year. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Lee Memorial Library logs about 81 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 5 public computers. That’s 4.3 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Allendale’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Allendale is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #18 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
43 community nonprofits are registered in Allendale
6.3 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.0%
9.0% of Allendale’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.2% in the typical New Jersey 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 Allendale’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Lee Memorial Library serves 6,848 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
92K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 45K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
22,969 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
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 Allendale last year.
Find it
Lee Memorial Library, 500 W. Crescent Avenue, Allendale.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Allendale? 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 $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Allendale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $743K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $743K 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 4,383 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Allendale ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyckoff Township | Wyckoff Free Public Library | 14.5 | 66 | A |
| Allendale | Lee Memorial Library | 13.4 | 54 | A |
| Mahwah Township | Mahwah Free Public Library | 12.2 | 62 | B+ |
| Ramsey | Ramsey Free Public Library fine-free | 11.7 | 60 | A |
| Waldwick | Waldwick Public Library | 9.8 | 58 | A− |
| Saddle River | None of its own | — | — | A |
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.
- 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.
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 Allendale
Does Allendale have a public library?
Yes. Lee Memorial Library, 500 W. Crescent Avenue, serves Allendale’s 6,848 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lee Memorial 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 Allendale’s library?
It logged 9.9 visits and lent 13.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Allendale’s civic life grade?
A Allendale is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #18 of 466 in New Jersey. 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 Allendale.
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.