Photo: Dough4872 · Public domainAudubon’s library logs 1.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Audubon Free Public Library serves Audubon’s 8,707 residents. Last year it lent 33K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
Audubon’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Audubon Free Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 5% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 85% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Audubon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Audubon is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #171 of 466 in New Jersey. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
42 community nonprofits are registered in Audubon
4.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.9%
9.9% of Audubon’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 Audubon’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Audubon Free Public Library serves 8,707 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 37K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
1,694 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Audubon last year.
Find it
Audubon Free Public Library, 239 Oakland Avenue, Audubon.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Audubon? 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 $1.80 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Audubon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $302K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $543K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $302K 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 2,957 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Audubon ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haddonfield | Haddonfield Public Library | 9.4 | 53 | A+ |
| Audubon | Audubon Free Public Library fine-free | 3.8 | 41 | B |
| Haddon Heights | Haddon Heights Public Library | 3.4 | 54 | B− |
| Oaklyn | Oaklyn Memorial Library | — | — | B− |
| Haddon Township | Haddon Township Branch Library fine-free | — | 58 | B− |
| Westmont | Haddon Township Branch Library fine-free | — | 58 | — graded as part of its town |
| Mount Ephraim | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Audubon Park | None of its own | — | — | C |
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 Audubon
Does Audubon have a public library?
Yes. Audubon Free Public Library, 239 Oakland Avenue, serves Audubon’s 8,707 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Audubon Free Public 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 Audubon’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Audubon’s civic life grade?
B Audubon is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #171 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 Audubon.
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.