Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Denville Township’s library runs 51 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Denville Free Public Library serves Denville Township’s 17,107 residents. Last year it lent 210K books, movies and e-books and logged 64K visits.
The short version on Denville Township’s library
Denville Township out-borrows every town next door
At 12 loans per resident, Denville Township leads the four towns here. The closest is Rockaway Township, at 7.2. Libraries next door ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 35% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
23,000 people came to the library’s 866 programs last year: 1.3 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 53% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 20 items per child in Denville Township last year. 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 Denville Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Denville Township is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #82 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Denville Township’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
97 community nonprofits are registered in Denville Township
5.6 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 (7 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.
9.8%
9.8% of Denville 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 Denville Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 Denville Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Denville Free Public Library serves 17,107 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 123 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
210K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 55K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
73,318 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Denville Free Public Library, 121 Diamond Spring Road, Denville.
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 Denville Township? 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 $2.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Denville Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 7,098 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Denville Township 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denville Township | Denville Free Public Library fine-free | 12.3 | 33 | A− |
| Rockaway Township | Rockaway Twsp. Pub. Lib. | 7.2 | 62 | C |
| Parsippany-Troy Hills Township | Parsippany-Troy Hills P.L. fine-free | 7.2 | 66 | C+ |
| Rockaway | Rockaway Free Public Library | 4.0 | 44 | C |
| White Meadow Lake | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Boonton Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Morris Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
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 Denville Township
Does Denville Township have a public library?
Yes. Denville Free Public Library, 121 Diamond Spring Road, serves Denville Township’s 17,107 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Denville 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 Denville Township’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 12.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Denville Township’s civic life grade?
A− Denville Township is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #82 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 Denville 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.