Photo: Wangyeah, babyknight, Roman Fuchs, Jim.henderson · CC BY-SA 3.0East Rutherford’s library runs 50 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
East Rutherford Memorial Library serves East Rutherford’s 10,022 residents. Last year it lent 46K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
What East Rutherford’s library is like
Well funded, but lightly used
East Rutherford Memorial Library spends $84 per resident, more than 85% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 81% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 65% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 63% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
55% of the 502 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 196 were for children. 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 East Rutherford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, East Rutherford is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #399 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; East Rutherford’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
East Rutherford’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($73K–$122K) 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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in East Rutherford
2.9 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.9%
4.9% of East Rutherford’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 Rutherford’s residents live; 2022.
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 Rutherford last year.
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 Rutherford Memorial Library serves 10,022 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
46K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
8,503 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
East Rutherford Memorial Library, 143 Boiling Springs Avenue, East Rutherford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in East Rutherford? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average East Rutherford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $843K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $715K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $843K 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 3,665 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
East Rutherford ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutherford | Rutherford Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 8.7 | 51 | A− |
| Carlstadt | William E. Dermody Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 50 | C+ |
| East Rutherford | East Rutherford Memorial Library | 4.6 | 52 | D |
| Secaucus | Secaucus Free Public Library | 4.5 | 71 | C− |
| Wallington | John F. Kennedy Memorial Library | 2.4 | 44 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. East Rutherford Memorial Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Rutherford
Does East Rutherford have a public library?
Yes. East Rutherford Memorial Library, 143 Boiling Springs Avenue, serves East Rutherford’s 10,022 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is East Rutherford Memorial 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 Rutherford’s library?
It logged 1.4 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 Rutherford’s civic life grade?
D East Rutherford is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on civic life, #399 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 Rutherford.
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.