Vanness-Linen House · Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Bloomingdale’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Bloomingdale Free Public Library serves Bloomingdale’s 7,777 residents. Last year it lent 28K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,164 visits.
The short version on Bloomingdale’s library
Every town next door borrows more
Bloomingdale’s library lends 3.6 items per resident. Each of the six neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Ringwood at 7.4. Libraries next door ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 262 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Bloomingdale Free Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, below 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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 Bloomingdale’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bloomingdale is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #380 of 466 in New Jersey. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Bloomingdale’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($96K–$159K) 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Bloomingdale
1.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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.
7.8%
7.8% of Bloomingdale’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 Bloomingdale’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bloomingdale Free Public Library serves 7,777 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
28K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 23K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
6,822 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Bloomingdale last year.
Find it
Bloomingdale Free Public Library, 101 Hamburg Turnpike, Bloomingdale.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bloomingdale? 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 $1.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bloomingdale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $335K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $491K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $335K 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 2,086 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bloomingdale ranks 7th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ringwood | Ringwood Public Library fine-free | 7.4 | 55 | A |
| West Milford Township | West Milford Twsp. Library | 5.7 | 59 | A− |
| Riverdale | Riverdale Public Library | 5.4 | 50 | B− |
| Wanaque | Wanaque Free Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 54 | C+ |
| Butler | Butler Public Library | 4.4 | 55 | C+ |
| Pompton Lakes | Emanuel Einstein Pub. Lib. | 4.2 | 53 | C+ |
| Bloomingdale | Bloomingdale Free Public Library | 3.6 | 50 | D |
| Macopin | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 are a typical-week estimate. Bloomingdale Free Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Bloomingdale
Does Bloomingdale have a public library?
Yes. Bloomingdale Free Public Library, 101 Hamburg Turnpike, serves Bloomingdale’s 7,777 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bloomingdale Free Public Library 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 Bloomingdale’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bloomingdale’s civic life grade?
D Bloomingdale is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #380 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 Bloomingdale.
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.