Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0East Orange’s library lends 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
East Orange Public Library serves East Orange’s 69,612 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and drew 4,154 people to its programs.
What East Orange’s library is like
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
East Orange Public Library holds 292,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
Four places to borrow in East Orange
East Orange Public Library runs four locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Orange’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, East Orange is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns, #426 of 466 in New Jersey. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so East Orange is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; East Orange’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
The survey’s stand-in for East Orange’s 2024 visits carries forward a 2023 figure, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$76K) 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 →
180 community nonprofits are registered in East Orange
2.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (94 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 22 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.7%
2.7% of East Orange’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 Orange’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
East Orange Public Library serves 69,612 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at East Orange Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 292K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
8,703 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
4 places to borrow in East Orange
East Orange Public Library, 21 S. Arlington Avenue, East Orange.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in East Orange? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in East Orange
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average East Orange cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $763K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.2M 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 43,277 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
East Orange ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Orange Village Township | South Orange Public Library | 4.0 | 60 | A− |
| Bloomfield Township | Bloomfield Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | — | C− |
| East Orange | East Orange Public Library | 0.6 | 60 | D |
| City of Orange Township | The Orange Public Library | 0.4 | 57 | D− |
| Newark | Newark Public Library fine-free | 0.4 | 58 | D− |
| Ampere North | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. East Orange Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2023 figure, so we leave it out and never rank it.
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 Orange
Does East Orange have a public library?
Yes. East Orange Public Library, 21 S. Arlington Avenue, serves East Orange’s 69,612 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is East Orange 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 Orange’s library?
It lent 0.6 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 505 programs that drew 4,154 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is East Orange’s civic life grade?
D East Orange is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns on civic life, #426 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 Orange.
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.