Photo: Yclept Nemo · CC BY-SA 4.0Garwood’s library runs 97 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Garwood Free Public Library serves Garwood’s 4,454 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
The short version on Garwood’s library
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 430 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Garwood Free Public Library ran 430 programs last year, about 8 a week. That’s 97 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 5,724 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Garwood invests in its library
Garwood Free Public Library spends $112 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Garwood Free Public Library holds 34,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Garwood’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Garwood is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #138 of 466 in New Jersey. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Garwood
4.3 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.5%
9.5% of Garwood’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 Garwood’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Garwood Free Public Library serves 4,454 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
1,674 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Garwood Free Public Library, 411 Third Avenue, Garwood.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Garwood? 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 Garwood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $501K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $284K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $501K budget.
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 1,187 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Garwood ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westfield | Westfield Memorial Library fine-free | 9.5 | 62 | B+ |
| Cranford Township | Cranford Public Library fine-free | 9.4 | 58 | A− |
| Garwood | Garwood Free Public Library | 2.9 | 51 | 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 Garwood
Does Garwood have a public library?
Yes. Garwood Free Public Library, 411 Third Avenue, serves Garwood’s 4,454 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
How busy is Garwood’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Garwood’s civic life grade?
B+ Garwood is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #138 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 Garwood.
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.