Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ, M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Elmwood Park’s library runs 9.5 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Elmwood Park Free Public Library serves Elmwood Park’s 21,422 residents. Last year it lent 59K books, movies and e-books and logged 37K visits.
Elmwood Park’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Elmwood Park Free Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
75% of the 203 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Elmwood Park Free Public Library offered 203 programs last year, 9.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. 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 Elmwood Park’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Elmwood Park is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns, #430 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Elmwood Park Free Public Library spends $26 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($76K–$127K) 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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Elmwood Park
1.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.9%
3.9% of Elmwood Park’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 Elmwood Park’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Elmwood Park Free Public Library serves 21,422 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
59K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 46K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
8,092 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
Find it
Elmwood Park Free Public Library, 210 Lee Street, Elmwood Park.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Elmwood Park? 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 $1.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elmwood Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $552K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $552K 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 6,412 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Elmwood Park ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Elmwood Park
Does Elmwood Park have a public library?
Yes. Elmwood Park Free Public Library, 210 Lee Street, serves Elmwood Park’s 21,422 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elmwood Park Free 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 Elmwood Park’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Elmwood Park’s civic life grade?
D− Elmwood Park is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns on civic life, #430 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 Elmwood Park.
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.