Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0East Brunswick Township’s library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
East Brunswick Public Library serves East Brunswick Township’s 49,715 residents. Last year it lent 533K books, movies and e-books and logged 231K visits.
What East Brunswick Township’s library is like
East Brunswick Township out-borrows every town next door
At 11 loans per resident, East Brunswick Township leads the ten towns here. The closest is South Brunswick Township, at 8.2. Libraries next door ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
East Brunswick Public Library is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 157 items go out. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
59% of the 846 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 287 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
East Brunswick Township invests in its library
East Brunswick Public Library spends $87 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) 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 East Brunswick Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, East Brunswick Township is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #140 of 466 in New Jersey. Library visits hold the grade up; East Brunswick Township’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
185 community nonprofits are registered in East Brunswick Township
3.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (42 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.7%
8.7% of East Brunswick 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 East Brunswick Township’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
533K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 114K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.8 times last year, on average.
93,966 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
East Brunswick Public Library serves 49,715 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 157 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 6 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.
Find it
East Brunswick Public Library, 2 Jean Walling Civic Center, East Brunswick.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in East Brunswick 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 $2.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average East Brunswick Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.3M 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 17,285 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
East Brunswick Township borrows the most per resident of the 10 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Brunswick Township | East Brunswick Public Library | 10.7 | 65 | B+ |
| South Brunswick Township | So. Brunswick Pub. Lib. | 8.2 | 83 | C+ |
| Edison Township | Edison Twsp. Free Public Lib fine-free | 5.6 | 68 | C− |
| Milltown | Milltown Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 45 | B |
| Spotswood | Spotswood Public Library fine-free | 3.7 | 43 | B− |
| North Brunswick Township | No. Brunswick Free Pub. Lib. | 3.6 | 60 | D |
| Old Bridge Township | Old Bridge Public Library | 3.1 | 99 | C− |
| Sayreville | Sayreville Free Public Library | 2.6 | 65 | D |
| South River | South River Public Library | 2.0 | 45 | D |
| New Brunswick | New Brunswick Free Pub. Lib. | 0.7 | 58 | D |
| Helmetta | 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.
- 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 East Brunswick Township
Does East Brunswick Township have a public library?
Yes. East Brunswick Public Library, 2 Jean Walling Civic Center, serves East Brunswick Township’s 49,715 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is East Brunswick 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 East Brunswick Township’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 10.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is East Brunswick Township’s civic life grade?
B+ East Brunswick Township is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #140 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 East Brunswick 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.