Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 2.0Camden’s library logs 8.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Collingswood Free Public Library serves Camden’s 14,186 residents. Last year it lent 62K books, movies and e-books and logged 123K visits.
Camden’s library, in brief
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 95% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 46%. The building also logs about 35 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 80% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Camden out-borrows every town next door
At 4.4 loans per resident, Camden leads the four towns here. The closest is Collingswood, at 4.4. Libraries next door ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 582 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.1 a week for ages 0–5. 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 Camden’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Camden is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #422 of 466 in New Jersey. Camden is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Camden’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($30K–$51K) 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 →
198 community nonprofits are registered in Camden
2.8 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 (118 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
1.9%
1.9% of Camden’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 Camden’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Collingswood Free Public Library serves 14,186 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
62K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 44K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
10,258 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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 Camden last year.
3 places to borrow in Camden
Collingswood Free Public Library, 771 Haddon Avenue, Collingswood.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Camden? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Camden
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Camden cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $649K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $649K 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 5,510 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Camden borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camden | Collingswood Free Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 54 | D |
| Collingswood | Collingswood Free Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 54 | A+ |
| Gloucester City | Gloucester City Library | 1.9 | — | C |
| Pennsauken Township | Pennsauken Free Pub. Lib. | 1.0 | — | D |
| Philadelphia | Free Library of Philadelphia fine-free | — | 49 | D |
| Haddon Township | Haddon Township Branch Library fine-free | — | 58 | B− |
| Woodlynne | 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 Camden
Does Camden have a public library?
Yes. Collingswood Free Public Library, 771 Haddon Avenue, serves Camden’s 14,186 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Collingswood 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 Camden’s library?
It logged 8.7 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Camden’s civic life grade?
D Camden is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #422 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 Camden.
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.