Photo: Smallbones · CC BY-SA 3.0Berlin’s library lends 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Marie Fleche Memorial Library serves Berlin’s 7,489 residents. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
The short version on Berlin’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Marie Fleche Memorial Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
55% of the 209 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 92 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 Berlin’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Berlin is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #170 of 466 in New Jersey. Berlin’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
50 community nonprofits are registered in Berlin
6.7 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 (23 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.9%
7.9% of Berlin’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 Berlin’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.
Marie Fleche Memorial Library serves 7,489 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
2,801 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 Berlin last year.
Find it
Marie Fleche Memorial Library, 49 South White Horse Pike, Berlin.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Berlin? 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 $1.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Berlin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $246K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $250K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $246K 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 2,300 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Berlin borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin | Marie Fleche Memorial Library fine-free | 2.0 | 47 | B |
| Atco | Waterford Twsp. Pub Lib. fine-free | 1.7 | 51 | — graded as part of its town |
| Waterford Township | Waterford Twsp. Pub Lib. fine-free | 1.7 | 51 | C+ |
| Winslow Township | South County Regional Branch Library fine-free | — | 58 | D |
| Berlin Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| West Berlin | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Pine Hill | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Lindenwold | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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 Berlin
Does Berlin have a public library?
Yes. Marie Fleche Memorial Library, 49 South White Horse Pike, serves Berlin’s 7,489 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marie Fleche Memorial 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 Berlin’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Berlin’s civic life grade?
B Berlin is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #170 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 Berlin.
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.