Photo: Hisland7 · CC BY-SA 3.0Edgewater’s library runs 82 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Edgewater Free Public Library serves Edgewater’s 14,336 residents. Last year it lent 85K books, movies and e-books and logged 45K visits.
What Edgewater’s library is like
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Edgewater Free Public Library ran 1,180 programs last year, about 23 a week. That’s 82 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Most of Edgewater’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 58% of loans, more per resident than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 42%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Edgewater Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2009. Today’s library there has 5,328 square feet. The building ↓
A place to get online
Edgewater Free Public Library logs about 159 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 20 public computers. That’s 4 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Edgewater Free Public Library holds 63,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Edgewater’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Edgewater is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #337 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Edgewater’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 ($93K–$155K) 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 →
43 community nonprofits are registered in Edgewater
2.9 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 (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.
5.0%
5.0% of Edgewater’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 Edgewater’s residents live; 2022.
About 10 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 Edgewater last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Edgewater Free Public Library serves 14,336 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 36 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
58% of borrowing is digital
85K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 63K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
48,907 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 2009
Edgewater Free Public Library, 49 Hudson Avenue, Edgewater.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Edgewater? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Edgewater Public Library
Edgewater Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 23, 2009. It is significant for its architecture and education at the local level.
The Edgewater Public Library is located at 48 Hudson Avenue in Edgewater, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Edgewater cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 8,485 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Edgewater ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Lee | Fort Lee Free Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 63 | C |
| Cliffside Park | Cliffside Park Free Library fine-free | 7.0 | 61 | D− |
| Edgewater | Edgewater Free Public Library fine-free | 5.9 | 45 | C− |
| North Bergen Township | North Bergen Public Library | 1.9 | 63 | 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. Edgewater Free Public 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 Edgewater
Does Edgewater have a public library?
Yes. Edgewater Free Public Library, 49 Hudson Avenue, serves Edgewater’s 14,336 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Edgewater Free Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Edgewater’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 5.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Edgewater’s civic life grade?
C− Edgewater is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #337 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 Edgewater.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.