Van Ness House · Photo: Walter Van Ness · CC BY-SA 3.0Fairfield Township’s library runs 164 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Anthony Pio Costa Memorial Library serves Fairfield Township’s 7,872 residents. Last year it lent 33K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
Fairfield Township’s library, in brief
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Anthony Pio Costa Memorial Library ran 1,289 programs last year, about 25 a week. That’s 164 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 11,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Fairfield Township’s library lends 4.2 items per resident. Each of the five neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by West Caldwell Township at 10. Libraries next door ↓
Fairfield Township invests in its library
Anthony Pio Costa Memorial Library spends $120 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
64% of the 1,289 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 389 were for children. 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 Fairfield Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairfield Township is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #207 of 466 in New Jersey. Fairfield Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
58 community nonprofits are registered in Fairfield Township
7.4 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 (7 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.
5.3%
5.3% of Fairfield 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 Fairfield Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 Fairfield Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Anthony Pio Costa Memorial Library serves 7,872 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,539 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Fairfield Free Public Library, 261 Hollywood Avenue, Fairfield.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fairfield Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fairfield Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $946K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $618K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $946K 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 2,620 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fairfield Township ranks 6th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Caldwell Township | West Caldwell Public Library fine-free | 10.3 | 57 | A− |
| Montville Township | Montville Twsp. Pub. Lib. | 9.4 | 57 | B |
| Wayne Township | Wayne Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 67 | B+ |
| Lincoln Park | Lincoln Park Public Library | 4.7 | 52 | C− |
| East Hanover Township | East Hanover Twsp. Public Library | 4.6 | 65 | B− |
| Fairfield Township | Fairfield Free Public Library | 4.2 | 60 | B− |
| Pine Brook | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Towaco | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| North Caldwell | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Fairfield Township
Does Fairfield Township have a public library?
Yes. Anthony Pio Costa Memorial Library, 261 Hollywood Avenue, serves Fairfield Township’s 7,872 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Anthony Pio Costa Memorial 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 Fairfield Township’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fairfield Township’s civic life grade?
B− Fairfield Township is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life, #207 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 Fairfield 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.