Photo: U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos · Public domainEgg Harbor Township’s library is a branch of Atlantic County Library, which lends less per resident than 63% of systems its size
Egg Harbor Township’s library is the Egg Harbor Township Branch, a branch of Atlantic County Library, which serves 214,422 people and lent 671K items last year.
The short version on Egg Harbor Township’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 85% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 37%. The building also logs about 225 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Egg Harbor Township’s library is a branch of Atlantic County Library, so they cover the whole system (214,422 people), not just the Egg Harbor Township branch.
What’s behind Egg Harbor Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Egg Harbor Township is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns, #312 of 466 in New Jersey. Egg Harbor Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Egg Harbor Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($73K–$121K) 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 →
183 community nonprofits are registered in Egg Harbor Township
3.8 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 (30 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.7%
5.7% of Egg Harbor 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 Egg Harbor Township’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Atlantic County Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Atlantic County Library serves 214,422 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
671K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
134,299 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 24 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Egg Harbor Township Branch, Russell Swift Dr. & Ocean Hgts. Ave, Egg Harbor Twp.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Atlantic County Library branch.
New in Egg Harbor 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 $1.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Egg Harbor Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $8.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.9M 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 25,287 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margate City | Margate City Public Library fine-free | 17.0 | 58 | A− |
| Northfield | Northfield Public Library | 5.6 | 54 | C+ |
| Linwood | Linwood Public Library | 5.3 | 53 | A− |
| Egg Harbor Township | Egg Harbor Township Branch | — | 56 | C |
| Hamilton Township | Atlantic County Library | — | 57 | C− |
| Galloway Township | Galloway Township Branch Library | — | 56 | C |
| Somers Point | Somers Point Branch Library | — | 56 | C+ |
| Pleasantville | Pleasantville Branch | — | 56 | D |
| Estell Manor | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Pomona | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Bargaintown | 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: books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Egg Harbor Township Branch is one branch of Atlantic County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 214,422 people it serves.
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 Egg Harbor Township
Does Egg Harbor Township have a public library?
Yes: Egg Harbor Township Branch, Russell Swift Dr. & Ocean Hgts. Ave, is a branch of Atlantic County Library, which serves 214,422 people. The branch is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Atlantic County 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 Egg Harbor Township’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Egg Harbor Township’s civic life grade?
C Egg Harbor Township is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns on civic life, #312 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 Egg Harbor 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.