Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Cranbury Township’s library runs 154 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Cranbury Public Library serves Cranbury Township’s 3,842 residents. Last year it lent 35K books, movies and e-books and logged 42K visits.
What Cranbury Township’s library is like
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Cranbury Public Library ran 593 programs last year, about 11 a week. That’s 154 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 7,811 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in New Jersey for library use
Cranbury Township ranks #15 of 234 New Jersey towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 11 visits per resident, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Cranbury Township invests in its library
Cranbury Public Library spends $191 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. 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 Cranbury Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cranbury Township is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #231 of 466 in New Jersey. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($163K–$271K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Cranbury Township
2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.0%
5.0% of Cranbury Township’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 Cranbury Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 Cranbury Township last year.
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.
Cranbury Public Library serves 3,842 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.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
35K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,086 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Cranbury Public Library, 30 Park Place West, Cranbury.
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 Cranbury Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cranbury Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $732K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $627K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $732K 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 1,617 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Cranbury Township ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainsboro Township | Plainsboro Free Pub. Lib. | 11.7 | 56 | B |
| Cranbury Township | Cranbury Public Library fine-free | 9.1 | 57 | C+ |
| Monroe Township | Monroe Township Public Library fine-free | 8.6 | 63 | C+ |
| South Brunswick Township | So. Brunswick Pub. Lib. | 8.2 | 83 | C+ |
| East Windsor Township | Hickory Corner Road Branch | — | 42 | C− |
| Twin Rivers | Twin Rivers Branch Library | — | 40 | — graded as part of its town |
| Princeton Meadows | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Cranbury Township
Does Cranbury Township have a public library?
Yes. Cranbury Public Library, 30 Park Place West, serves Cranbury Township’s 3,842 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cranbury 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 Cranbury Township’s library?
It logged 10.9 visits and lent 9.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Cranbury Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Cranbury Township is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #231 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 Cranbury Township.
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.