Littel-Lord Farmstead · Photo: Josconklin · CC BY-SA 3.0Berkeley Heights Township’s library runs 33 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Berkeley Heights Free Public Library serves Berkeley Heights Township’s 13,285 residents. Last year it lent 102K books, movies and e-books and logged 48K visits.
Berkeley Heights Township’s library, in brief
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans, more per resident than at 88% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 60%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Open about 67 hours a week
Berkeley Heights Free Public Library is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 72% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Berkeley Heights Township invests in its library
Berkeley Heights Free Public Library spends $89 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Berkeley Heights Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Berkeley Heights Township is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #126 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
56 community nonprofits are registered in Berkeley Heights Township
4.2 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.8%
9.8% of Berkeley Heights 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 Berkeley Heights Township’s residents live; 2022.
40% of borrowing is digital
102K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 52K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
40,397 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Berkeley Heights Free Public Library serves 13,285 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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 Berkeley Heights Township last year.
Find it
Berkeley Heights Free Public Library, 29 Park Avenue, Berkeley Heights.
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 Berkeley Heights 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 $1.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Berkeley Heights Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 7,393 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Berkeley Heights Township ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summit | Summit Free Public Library fine-free | 13.2 | 64 | A |
| Gillette | Long Hill Township Free Public Library fine-free | 13.1 | 48 | — graded as part of its town |
| Long Hill Township | Long Hill Township Free Public Library fine-free | 13.1 | 48 | A |
| New Providence | New Providence Memorial Lib. fine-free | 10.2 | 57 | A |
| Scotch Plains Township | Scotch Plains Public Library fine-free | 8.4 | 57 | B |
| Berkeley Heights Township | Berkeley Heights Free Public Library fine-free | 7.7 | 67 | B+ |
| Mountainside | Mountainside Free Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 52 | A |
| Watchung | Watchung Branch Library fine-free | — | 40 | B− |
| Warren Township | Warren Township Branch Library fine-free | — | 58 | B |
| Chatham Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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 Berkeley Heights Township
Does Berkeley Heights Township have a public library?
Yes. Berkeley Heights Free Public Library, 29 Park Avenue, serves Berkeley Heights Township’s 13,285 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Berkeley Heights 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 Berkeley Heights Township’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 7.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Berkeley Heights Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Berkeley Heights Township is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on civic life, #126 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 Berkeley Heights 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.