Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Boonton’s library runs 74 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Boonton Holmes Public Library serves Boonton’s 8,815 residents. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
The short version on Boonton’s library
Every town next door borrows more
Boonton’s library lends 3.8 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Mountain Lakes at 12. Libraries next door ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Boonton Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972. Today’s library there has 3,000 square feet. The building ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Boonton Holmes Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. 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 Boonton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Boonton is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #156 of 466 in New Jersey. Boonton’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 →
77 community nonprofits are registered in Boonton
8.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (17 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.6%
7.6% of Boonton’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 Boonton’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1972
The Holmes Library, 621 Main Street, Boonton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Boonton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Boonton Public Library
Boonton Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 13, 1972. It is significant for its education, communications and social history at the local level.
The Boonton Public Library, also known as the Holmes Library, is located at 619 Main Street in the town of Boonton in Morris County, New Jersey. Built c. 1849, the Greek Revival building was purchased by James Holmes in 1856 and became the public library in 1893. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 13, 1972, for its significance in communications, education, and social history.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Boonton Holmes Public Library serves 8,815 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
11,646 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 Boonton last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Boonton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $477K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $563K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $477K 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 2,963 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Boonton ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Lakes | Mountain Lakes Free Public Library fine-free | 11.9 | 53 | A |
| Montville Township | Montville Twsp. Pub. Lib. | 9.4 | 57 | B |
| Parsippany-Troy Hills Township | Parsippany-Troy Hills P.L. fine-free | 7.2 | 66 | C+ |
| Boonton | The Holmes Library | 3.8 | 55 | B |
| Boonton Township | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Boonton Holmes 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 Boonton
Does Boonton have a public library?
Yes. Boonton Holmes Public Library, 621 Main Street, serves Boonton’s 8,815 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Boonton Holmes 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 Boonton’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Boonton’s civic life grade?
B Boonton is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #156 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 Boonton.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.