Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 4.0Demarest’s library runs 145 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Demarest Public Library Association serves Demarest’s 4,981 residents. Last year it lent 55K books, movies and e-books and logged 42K visits.
What Demarest’s library is like
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Demarest Public Library Association ran 721 programs last year, about 14 a week. That’s 145 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 11,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 78% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Demarest last year. Kids & programs ↓
People come to Demarest Public Library Association a lot
Demarest Public Library Association logs 8.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 32% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Open about 72 hours a week
Demarest Public Library Association is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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 Demarest’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Demarest is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #22 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Demarest
6.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.8%
8.8% of Demarest’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 Demarest’s residents live; 2022.
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 Demarest 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.
Demarest Public Library Association serves 4,981 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
55K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 58K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
17,233 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Demarest Public Library Association, 90 Hardenburgh Avenue, Demarest.
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 Demarest? 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 $1.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Demarest cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $646K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $930K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $646K 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 2,757 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Demarest ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Demarest
Does Demarest have a public library?
Yes. Demarest Public Library Association, 90 Hardenburgh Avenue, serves Demarest’s 4,981 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Demarest Public Library Association 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 Demarest’s library?
It logged 8.4 visits and lent 11.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Demarest’s civic life grade?
A Demarest is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on civic life, #22 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 Demarest.
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.