Photo: AEMoreira042281 · CC BY-SA 3.0Dunellen’s library runs 71 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Dunellen Free Public Library serves Dunellen’s 7,637 residents. Last year it lent 21K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What’s behind Dunellen’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dunellen is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #320 of 466 in New Jersey. Dunellen’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($65K–$109K) 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 →
38 community nonprofits are registered in Dunellen
4.8 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 (9 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.
5.4%
5.4% of Dunellen’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 Dunellen’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Dunellen Free Public Library serves 7,637 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
4,941 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Dunellen last year.
Find it
Dunellen Free Public Library, New Market Road, Dunellen.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Dunellen? 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 $1.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dunellen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $338K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $397K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $338K 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 1,917 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Dunellen ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piscataway Township | Piscataway Public Library fine-free | 3.6 | 62 | C− |
| Middlesex | Middlesex Public Library | 3.4 | 49 | D |
| Dunellen | Dunellen Free Public Library | 2.8 | 47 | C |
| Plainfield | Plainfield Free Pub. Lib. | 0.8 | 60 | D |
| Green Brook Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
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 Dunellen
Does Dunellen have a public library?
Yes. Dunellen Free Public Library, New Market Road, serves Dunellen’s 7,637 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dunellen Free 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 Dunellen’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Dunellen’s civic life grade?
C Dunellen is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #320 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 Dunellen.
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.