Photo: Princewill121 · CC BY-SA 4.0Garfield’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Garfield Free Public Library serves Garfield’s 32,655 residents. Last year it lent 49K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
The short version on Garfield’s library
Garfield Free Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Garfield Free Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Garfield’s library lends 1.5 items per resident. Each of the six neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Saddle Brook Township at 4.8. Libraries next door ↓
Programs are almost all for children
88% of the 230 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 76% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
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 Garfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Garfield is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #451 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Garfield’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Garfield’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($60K–$100K) 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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Garfield
1.3 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 (23 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.
3.4%
3.4% of Garfield’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 Garfield’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Garfield Free Public Library serves 32,655 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 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
49K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,031 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 Garfield last year.
Find it
Garfield Free Public Library, 500 Midland Avenue, Garfield.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Garfield? 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 Garfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $923K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $732K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $923K 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 10,504 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Garfield ranks 7th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saddle Brook Township | Saddle Brook Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 4.8 | 59 | D |
| Clifton | Clifton Public Library | 4.7 | 60 | D |
| Elmwood Park | Elmwood Park Free Public Library | 2.8 | 58 | D− |
| Lodi | Lodi Memorial Library | 2.7 | 52 | D |
| Passaic | Passaic Public Library | 2.7 | 74 | D− |
| Wallington | John F. Kennedy Memorial Library | 2.4 | 44 | D− |
| Garfield | Garfield Free Public Library | 1.5 | 47 | D− |
| South Hackensack 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.
- Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Garfield Free 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 Garfield
Does Garfield have a public library?
Yes. Garfield Free Public Library, 500 Midland Avenue, serves Garfield’s 32,655 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Garfield Free 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 Garfield’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Garfield’s civic life grade?
D− Garfield is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #451 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 Garfield.
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.