Hess, Harold, Lustron House · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 4.0Closter’s library lends 18 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Closter Public Library serves Closter’s 8,594 residents. Last year it lent 170K books, movies and e-books and logged 70K visits.
The short version on Closter’s library
Closter ranks 3rd in New Jersey for borrowing
Out of 234 New Jersey towns with a library of their own, Closter comes 3rd for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #12 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Closter uses its library more than almost any town its size
Closter Public Library logs 8.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 18 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Closter out-borrows every town next door
At 20 loans per resident, Closter leads the six towns here. The closest is Haworth, at 14. Libraries next door ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 43% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 26 items per child in Closter last year. Kids & programs ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Closter Public Library ran 868 programs last year, about 17 a week. That’s 101 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 11,000 attended. 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 Closter’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Closter is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #143 of 466 in New Jersey. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
50 community nonprofits are registered in Closter
5.8 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 (23 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.
4.7%
4.7% of Closter’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 Closter’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
170K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 48K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.2 times last year, on average.
18,362 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Closter Public Library serves 8,594 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 59 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 10 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 Closter last year.
Find it
Closter Public Library, 280 High Street, Closter.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Closter? 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 $3.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Closter cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $884K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $884K 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 3,668 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Closter borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closter | Closter Public Library | 19.7 | 55 | B+ |
| Haworth | Haworth Municipal Library | 14.4 | 46 | B+ |
| Harrington Park | Harrington Park Public Library | 12.5 | 45 | B− |
| Demarest | Demarest Public Library Association fine-free | 11.0 | 72 | A |
| Norwood | Norwood Public Library | 8.4 | 50 | A |
| Emerson | Emerson Public Library | 6.9 | 45 | B− |
| Alpine | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Closter 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 Closter
Does Closter have a public library?
Yes. Closter Public Library, 280 High Street, serves Closter’s 8,594 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Closter 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 Closter’s library?
It logged 8.2 visits and lent 19.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Closter’s civic life grade?
B+ Closter is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #143 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 Closter.
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.