Photo: RyeCityRoller · CC BY-SA 4.0Fort Lee’s library runs 44 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Fort Lee Free Public Library serves Fort Lee’s 40,191 residents. Last year it lent 397K books, movies and e-books and logged 256K visits.
The short version on Fort Lee’s library
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Fort Lee Free Public Library ran 1,770 programs last year, about 34 a week. That’s 44 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 34,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 62% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 30 items per child in Fort Lee last year. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in New Jersey for kids’ borrowing
Fort Lee ranks #8 of 215 New Jersey towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
People come to Fort Lee Free Public Library a lot
Fort Lee Free Public Library logs 6.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 8.3 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Fort Lee out-borrows every town next door
At 9.9 loans per resident, Fort Lee leads the five towns here. The closest is Leonia, at 8.1. Libraries next door ↓
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 Fort Lee’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fort Lee is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #284 of 466 in New Jersey. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($80K–$134K) 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 →
118 community nonprofits are registered in Fort Lee
3.0 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 (49 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 18 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.8%
3.8% of Fort Lee’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 Fort Lee’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 Fort Lee last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Fort Lee Free Public Library serves 40,191 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 122 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
397K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 89K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.8 times last year, on average.
62,009 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Fort Lee Free Public Library, 320 Main Street, Fort Lee.
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 Fort Lee? 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 Fort Lee cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.3M 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 21,618 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fort Lee borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Lee | Fort Lee Free Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 63 | C |
| Leonia | Leonia Public Library | 8.1 | 51 | B− |
| Englewood | Englewood Library fine-free | 6.2 | 64 | C+ |
| Edgewater | Edgewater Free Public Library fine-free | 5.9 | 45 | C− |
| Palisades Park | Palisades Park Free Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 53 | D |
| Englewood Cliffs | 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.
- 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 Fort Lee
Does Fort Lee have a public library?
Yes. Fort Lee Free Public Library, 320 Main Street, serves Fort Lee’s 40,191 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fort Lee 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 Fort Lee’s library?
It logged 6.4 visits and lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Fort Lee’s civic life grade?
C Fort Lee is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #284 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 Fort Lee.
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.