Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Burlington’s library lends 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Library Company of Burlington serves Burlington’s 9,743 residents. Last year it lent 21K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
The short version on Burlington’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
66% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 33%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people Library Company of Burlington serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. 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 Burlington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Burlington is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns, #371 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Burlington’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Library Company of Burlington spends $21 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size, and its 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 ($64K–$106K) 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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Burlington
3.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.8%
4.8% of Burlington’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 Burlington’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Library Company of Burlington serves 9,743 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
4,673 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Burlington last year.
Find it
Library Company of Burlington, 23 W. Union Street, Burlington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Burlington? 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 $1.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Burlington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $203K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $379K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $203K budget.
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 1,086 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington | Library Company of Burlington | 2.2 | 43 | C− |
| Bristol Township | Levittown Regional Library | — | 61 | D |
| Burlington Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Bristol | 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. Library Company of Burlington 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 Burlington
Does Burlington have a public library?
Yes. Library Company of Burlington, 23 W. Union Street, serves Burlington’s 9,743 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
How busy is Burlington’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Burlington’s civic life grade?
C− Burlington is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns on civic life, #371 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 Burlington.
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.