Photo: Jared Kofsky/PlaceNJ.com · CC BY-SA 3.0Caldwell’s library runs 68 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Caldwell Free Public Library serves Caldwell’s 9,027 residents. Last year it lent 39K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
What stands out about Caldwell’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Caldwell’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Caldwell is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #291 of 466 in New Jersey. Caldwell’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($73K–$121K) 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 Caldwell
4.1 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of Caldwell’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 Caldwell’s residents live; 2022.
43% of borrowing is digital
39K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
16,658 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Caldwell Free Public Library serves 9,027 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 7 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 Caldwell last year.
Find it
Caldwell Free Public Library, 24d Smull Ave, Caldwell.
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 Caldwell? 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 $1.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Caldwell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $510K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $702K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $510K 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 2,650 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Caldwell Township | West Caldwell Public Library fine-free | 10.3 | 57 | A− |
| Caldwell | Caldwell Free Public Library fine-free | 4.3 | 44 | C |
| Essex Fells | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| North Caldwell | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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 Caldwell
Does Caldwell have a public library?
Yes. Caldwell Free Public Library, 24d Smull Ave, serves Caldwell’s 9,027 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Caldwell 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 Caldwell’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Caldwell’s civic life grade?
C Caldwell is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #291 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 Caldwell.
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.