Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0Franklin Township’s library runs 32 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Franklin Twp Public Library/Gloucester serves Franklin Township’s 16,380 residents. Last year it lent 44K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.
What’s behind Franklin Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Franklin Township is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns, #372 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($83K–$138K) 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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Franklin Township
2.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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 (16 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.
5.9%
5.9% of Franklin 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 Franklin Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Franklin Twp Public Library/Gloucester serves 16,380 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
44K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
4,848 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Franklin Township last year.
Find it
Franklin Twp. Pub. Lib./Franklinville, 1584 Coles Mill Road, Franklinville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Franklin Township? 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 $1.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Franklin Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $548K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $795K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $548K 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 9,018 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Franklin Township ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newfield | Newfield Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 41 | B− |
| Franklin Township | Franklin Twp. Pub. Lib./Franklinville | 2.7 | 51 | C− |
| Monroe Township | Monroe Township Free Public Library | 2.3 | 50 | C+ |
| Upper Pittsgrove Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Clayton | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Pittsgrove Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Elk Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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 Franklin Township
Does Franklin Township have a public library?
Yes. Franklin Twp Public Library/Gloucester, 1584 Coles Mill Road, serves Franklin Township’s 16,380 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Franklin Twp Public Library/Gloucester 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 Franklin Township’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Franklin Township’s civic life grade?
C− Franklin Township is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns on civic life, #372 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 Franklin 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.