Photo: Lithium6ion · Public domainFranklin Lakes’ library runs 56 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Franklin Lakes Free Public Library serves Franklin Lakes’s 11,079 residents. Last year it lent 120K books, movies and e-books and logged 58K visits.
Franklin Lakes’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 19 items per child in Franklin Lakes last year. Kids & programs ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Franklin Lakes Free Public Library ran 621 programs last year, about 12 a week. That’s 56 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 11,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Franklin Lakes invests in its library
Franklin Lakes Free Public Library spends $148 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
A place to get online
Franklin Lakes Free Public Library logs about 501 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 11 public computers. That’s 17 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Franklin Lakes’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Franklin Lakes is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #88 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 Franklin Lakes
5.2 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 (9 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.
8.2%
8.2% of Franklin Lakes’ 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 Lakes’ 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 Franklin Lakes last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Franklin Lakes Free Public Library serves 11,079 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 36 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.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
120K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
20,564 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Franklin Lakes Free Public Library, 470 Dekorte Drive, Franklin Lakes.
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 Franklin Lakes? 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 Lakes cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 5,454 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Franklin Lakes ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyckoff Township | Wyckoff Free Public Library | 14.5 | 66 | A |
| Mahwah Township | Mahwah Free Public Library | 12.2 | 62 | B+ |
| Franklin Lakes | Franklin Lakes Free Public Library fine-free | 10.8 | 63 | A− |
| Oakland | Oakland Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 57 | B+ |
| Wayne Township | Wayne Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 67 | B+ |
| North Haledon | No. Haledon Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 5.0 | 59 | D |
| Pines Lake | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Franklin Lakes
Does Franklin Lakes have a public library?
Yes. Franklin Lakes Free Public Library, 470 Dekorte Drive, serves Franklin Lakes’ 11,079 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Franklin Lakes 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 Franklin Lakes’ library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 10.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Franklin Lakes’ civic life grade?
A− Franklin Lakes is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #88 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 Lakes.
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.