Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Bedminster Township’s library logs 14 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Bedminster-Far Hills serves Bedminster Township’s 9,196 residents. Last year it lent 68K books, movies and e-books and logged 127K visits.
The short version on Bedminster Township’s library
More library cards than residents
11,711 cards for 9,196 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Bedminster Township ranks 5th in New Jersey for library use
Out of 234 New Jersey towns with a library of their own, Bedminster Township comes 5th for visits per resident. How it compares ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Bedminster-Far Hills ran 1,301 programs last year, about 25 a week. That’s 141 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 19,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Bedminster-Far Hills charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
70% of the 1,301 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 289 were for children. 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.
What’s behind Bedminster Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bedminster Township is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #117 of 466 in New Jersey. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
39 community nonprofits are registered in Bedminster Township
4.7 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 (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.
6.1%
6.1% of Bedminster Township’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 Bedminster Township’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 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.
Bedminster-Far Hills serves 9,196 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
68K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 88K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
10,586 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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 Bedminster Township last year.
Find it
Bedminster-Far Hills, 2336 Lamington Road, Bedminster.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bedminster Township? 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 $1.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bedminster Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $997K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $997K 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 11,711 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedminster Township | Bedminster-Far Hills | 7.4 | 57 | B+ |
| Tewksbury Township | Tewksbury Twsp. Pub. Lib. | — | — | A+ |
| Bridgewater Township | Bridgewater Branch fine-free | — | 58 | B− |
| Peapack and Gladstone | Peapack Gladstone Branch Library fine-free | — | 56 | A− |
| Green Knoll | Bridgewater Branch fine-free | — | 58 | — graded as part of its town |
| Bridgewater Center | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Lamington | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Branchburg Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Readington Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Pluckemin | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Far Hills | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Bedminster Township
Does Bedminster Township have a public library?
Yes. Bedminster-Far Hills, 2336 Lamington Road, serves Bedminster Township’s 9,196 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bedminster-Far Hills 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 Bedminster Township’s library?
It logged 13.8 visits and lent 7.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bedminster Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Bedminster Township is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #117 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 Bedminster Township.
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.