Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0East Hanover Township’s library logs 3.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
East Hanover Township Free Public Library serves East Hanover Township’s 11,105 residents. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.
The short version on East Hanover Township’s library
Open about 65 hours a week
East Hanover Township Free Public Library is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 282 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
East Hanover Township Free Public Library holds 68,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
East Hanover Township invests in its library
East Hanover Township Free Public Library spends $93 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) 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 Hanover Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, East Hanover Township is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #227 of 466 in New Jersey. East Hanover Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
61 community nonprofits are registered in East Hanover Township
5.5 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 (4 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.
5.1%
5.1% of East Hanover 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 Hanover Township’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average East Hanover Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $798K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 5,675 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
East Hanover Township Free Public Library serves 11,105 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 68K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
12,137 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 East Hanover Township last year.
Find it
East Hanover Twsp. Public Library, 415 Ridgedale Avenue, East Hanover.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in East Hanover Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
East Hanover Township ranks 7th of 10 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Livingston Township | Livingston Free Public Library fine-free | 15.5 | 60 | A |
| Florham Park | Florham Park Free Public Library | 12.1 | 61 | A− |
| Roseland | Roseland Public Library fine-free | 11.1 | 48 | A |
| West Caldwell Township | West Caldwell Public Library fine-free | 10.3 | 57 | A− |
| Montville Township | Montville Twsp. Pub. Lib. | 9.4 | 57 | B |
| Parsippany-Troy Hills Township | Parsippany-Troy Hills P.L. fine-free | 7.2 | 66 | C+ |
| East Hanover Township | East Hanover Twsp. Public Library | 4.6 | 65 | B− |
| Fairfield Township | Fairfield Free Public Library | 4.2 | 60 | B− |
| Hanover Township | Whippanong Lib/Hanover Twsp. | 4.1 | 47 | B− |
| Whippany | Whippanong Lib/Hanover Twsp. | 4.1 | 47 | — graded as part of its town |
| Pine Brook | 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.
- 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 Hanover Township
Does East Hanover Township have a public library?
Yes. East Hanover Township Free Public Library, 415 Ridgedale Avenue, serves East Hanover Township’s 11,105 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is East Hanover Township 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 East Hanover Township’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 4.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is East Hanover Township’s civic life grade?
B− East Hanover Township is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #227 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 Hanover 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.