Photo: Eva and Rodney Hargis · CC BY-SA 2.0Hamilton Township’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Hamilton Township Free Public Library serves Hamilton Township’s 92,297 residents. Last year it lent 169K books, movies and e-books and logged 59K visits.
The short version on Hamilton Township’s library
Hamilton Township Free Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Hamilton Township Free Public Library records 0.6 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 ↓
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 Hamilton Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hamilton Township is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #417 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Hamilton Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Hamilton Township’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 ($76K–$126K) 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 →
266 community nonprofits are registered in Hamilton Township
2.9 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 (51 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 13 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.9%
4.9% of Hamilton 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 Hamilton Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Hamilton Township Free Public Library serves 92,297 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 54 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.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
169K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
57,751 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Hamilton Township last year.
Find it
Hamilton Twsp. Free Public Library, 1 Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. Way, Hamilton.
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 Hamilton Township? 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 Hamilton Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 43,859 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton Township | Hamilton Twsp. Free Public Library fine-free | 1.8 | 60 | D |
| Trenton | Trenton Free Public Library | 0.3 | 60 | D |
| Chesterfield Township | Crosswicks Public Library | — | — | B− |
| Crosswicks | Crosswicks Public Library | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lawrence Township | Mercer County Library | — | 42 | B− |
| Bordentown | Bordentown Branch Library fine-free | — | 54 | B |
| Bordentown Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Groveville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Yardville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| North Hanover Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| White Horse | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Hamilton Township 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 Hamilton Township
Does Hamilton Township have a public library?
Yes. Hamilton Township Free Public Library, 1 Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. Way, serves Hamilton Township’s 92,297 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hamilton Township 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 Hamilton Township’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Hamilton Township’s civic life grade?
D Hamilton Township is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #417 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 Hamilton 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.