Glen Ridge’s library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Glen Ridge Free Public Library serves Glen Ridge’s 7,802 residents. Last year it lent 114K books, movies and e-books and logged 105K visits.
What Glen Ridge’s library is like
Glen Ridge uses its library more than almost any town its size
Glen Ridge Free Public Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in New Jersey for library use
Glen Ridge ranks #9 of 234 New Jersey towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 13 visits per resident, more than at 97% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Glen Ridge invests in its library
Glen Ridge Free Public Library spends $112 per resident a year, about twice 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
Glen Ridge Free Public Library logs about 104 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 16 public computers. That’s 4.9 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 Glen Ridge’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Glen Ridge is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #8 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 →
42 community nonprofits are registered in Glen Ridge
5.3 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.9%
10.9% of Glen Ridge’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 Glen Ridge’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Glen Ridge Free Public Library serves 7,802 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
114K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 40K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
30,971 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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 Glen Ridge last year.
Find it
Glen Ridge Free Public Library, 240 Ridgewood Avenue, Glen Ridge.
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 Glen Ridge? 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 $2.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Glen Ridge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $872K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $872K 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 4,396 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Glen Ridge borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Ridge | Glen Ridge Free Public Library fine-free | 14.6 | 56 | A |
| Montclair Township | Montclair Public Library fine-free | 9.4 | 52 | A |
| Bloomfield Township | Bloomfield Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | — | C− |
| Watsessing | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Brookdale | 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.
- 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 Glen Ridge
Does Glen Ridge have a public library?
Yes. Glen Ridge Free Public Library, 240 Ridgewood Avenue, serves Glen Ridge’s 7,802 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Glen Ridge 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 Glen Ridge’s library?
It logged 13.5 visits and lent 14.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Glen Ridge’s civic life grade?
A Glen Ridge is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 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 Glen Ridge.
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.