Photo: Smallbones · Public domainAvalon’s library logs 61 visits per resident, the highest of 3,790 U.S. town libraries
Avalon Free Public Library serves Avalon’s 1,243 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 189K books, movies and e-books and logged 76K visits.
Avalon’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
6,352 cards for 1,243 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Avalon uses its library more than almost any town its size
Avalon Free Public Library logs 61 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 68 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 99% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Seven times the programs of a typical library its size
Avalon Free Public Library ran 497 programs last year, about 10 a week. That’s 400 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 22,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Most of Avalon’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 55% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 45%. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 30% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 155 items per child in Avalon last year. Kids & programs ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Avalon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Avalon is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Avalon Free Public Library logged 60.7 visits per resident in FY2024, #1 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Avalon
12.7 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.4%
2.4% of Avalon’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 Avalon’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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 Avalon last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Avalon Free Public Library serves 1,243 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 37 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
55% of borrowing is digital
189K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 43K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
104,364 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Avalon
Avalon Free Public Library, 235 32nd Street, Avalon.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Avalon? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Avalon
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Avalon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $2.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.6M 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 6,352 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalon | Avalon Free Public Library fine-free | 152.1 | 63 | A− |
| Middle Township | Cape May County Library fine-free | — | 70 | B+ |
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 count everyone. Avalon’s 75,512 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Avalon
Does Avalon have a public library?
Yes. Avalon Free Public Library, 235 32nd Street, serves Avalon’s 1,243 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Avalon 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 Avalon’s library?
It logged 60.7 visits and lent 152.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Its visits per resident rank #1 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare.
What is Avalon’s civic life grade?
A− Avalon is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Avalon.
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.