Photo: Mitchazenia · CC BY-SA 3.0Emerson’s library runs 66 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Emerson Public Library serves Emerson’s 7,290 residents. Last year it lent 50K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,532 visits.
What Emerson’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Emerson’s library lends 6.9 items per resident. Each of the eight neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Closter at 20. Libraries next door ↓
Most programs are for young children
68% of the 481 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.5 a week for ages 0–5. 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 Emerson’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Emerson is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #220 of 466 in New Jersey. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
33 community nonprofits are registered in Emerson
4.5 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 (5 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.
9.6%
9.6% of Emerson’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 Emerson’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Emerson Public Library serves 7,290 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
50K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 37K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
10,831 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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 Emerson last year.
Find it
Emerson Public Library, 20 Palisade Avenue, Emerson.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Emerson? 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 $2.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Emerson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $380K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $795K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $380K 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 5,058 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Emerson ranks 9th of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closter | Closter Public Library | 19.7 | 55 | B+ |
| Paramus | Paramus Public Library fine-free | 19.1 | 68 | A− |
| Haworth | Haworth Municipal Library | 14.4 | 46 | B+ |
| Harrington Park | Harrington Park Public Library | 12.5 | 45 | B− |
| Oradell | Oradell Public Library | 11.1 | 62 | A |
| River Vale Township | River Vale Public Library | 10.3 | 58 | B |
| Westwood | Westwood Free Public Library | 9.5 | 55 | A− |
| Washington Township | Wash. Twp Pub Lib/Westwood fine-free | 8.5 | 59 | B |
| Emerson | Emerson Public Library | 6.9 | 45 | B− |
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. Emerson 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 Emerson
Does Emerson have a public library?
Yes. Emerson Public Library, 20 Palisade Avenue, serves Emerson’s 7,290 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Emerson 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 Emerson’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Emerson’s civic life grade?
B− Emerson is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #220 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 Emerson.
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.