Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Elizabeth’s library runs 13 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Elizabeth Free Public Library serves Elizabeth’s 137,298 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 136K books, movies and e-books and logged 351K visits.
Elizabeth’s library, in brief
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 66% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 87% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Elizabeth Free Public Library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, fewer than 93% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
50% of the 1,753 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 664 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Four places to borrow in Elizabeth
Elizabeth Free 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 Elizabeth’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Elizabeth is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns, #425 of 466 in New Jersey. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #337. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$83K) 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 →
160 community nonprofits are registered in Elizabeth
1.2 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 (145 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 14 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
1.9%
1.9% of Elizabeth’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 Elizabeth’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Elizabeth Free Public Library serves 137,298 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
136K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 155K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
12,307 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 13 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 Elizabeth last year.
4 places to borrow in Elizabeth
Elizabeth Free Public Library, 11 South Broad St., Elizabeth.
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 Elizabeth? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Elizabeth
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elizabeth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.7M 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 28,058 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Elizabeth ranks 4th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Township | Union Free Public Library fine-free | 2.3 | 57 | D |
| Roselle Park | Roselle Park Veteran's Mem. Lib. fine-free | 2.2 | — | C− |
| Linden | Linden Free Public Library | 1.2 | 57 | D |
| Elizabeth | Elizabeth Free Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 53 | D |
| Hillside Township | Hillside Free Public Library | 1.0 | 51 | D− |
| Roselle | Roselle Free Public Library | 0.6 | 48 | D− |
| Bayonne | Bayonne Free Public Library fine-free | 0.4 | 64 | D− |
| Newark | Newark Public Library fine-free | 0.4 | 58 | D− |
| New York | Brooklyn Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| Kean University | 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 Elizabeth
Does Elizabeth have a public library?
Yes. Elizabeth Free Public Library, 11 South Broad St., serves Elizabeth’s 137,298 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Elizabeth’s civic life grade?
D Elizabeth is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns on civic life, #425 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 Elizabeth.
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.