Photo: Jim.henderson · CC BY-SA 4.0Bayonne’s library runs 19 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Bayonne Free Public Library serves Bayonne’s 71,686 residents. Last year it lent 30K books, movies and e-books and logged 60K visits.
The short version on Bayonne’s library
Bayonne Free Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Bayonne Free Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. How it compares ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Bayonne Free Public Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Bayonne Free Public Library holds 143,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Bayonne’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bayonne is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns, #431 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($63K–$105K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
142 community nonprofits are registered in Bayonne
2.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (47 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.2%
5.2% of Bayonne’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 Bayonne’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bayonne Free Public Library serves 71,686 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
30K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 143K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
10,417 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 15 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 Bayonne last year.
Find it
Bayonne Free Public Library, 697 Avenue C, Bayonne.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bayonne? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bayonne cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $494K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 23,316 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bayonne ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jersey City | Jersey City Public Library | 1.9 | 60 | D |
| Elizabeth | Elizabeth Free Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 53 | D |
| Bayonne | Bayonne Free Public Library fine-free | 0.4 | 64 | D− |
| Newark | Newark Public Library fine-free | 0.4 | 58 | D− |
| New York | Brooklyn Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | 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 Bayonne
Does Bayonne have a public library?
Yes. Bayonne Free Public Library, 697 Avenue C, serves Bayonne’s 71,686 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bayonne 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 Bayonne’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bayonne’s civic life grade?
D− Bayonne is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns on civic life, #431 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 Bayonne.
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.