Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 4.0Hamilton Township’s library logs 3.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Atlantic County Library serves 214,422 people in and around Hamilton Township. Last year it lent 671K books, movies and e-books and logged 750K visits.
The short version on Hamilton Township’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 85% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 37%. The building also logs about 225 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. 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; Atlantic County Library serves 214,422 people in and around Hamilton Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hamilton Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hamilton Township is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #364 of 466 in New Jersey. Hamilton Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Hamilton Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$99K) 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 →
79 community nonprofits are registered in Hamilton Township
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.7%
5.7% 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.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Atlantic County Library system. 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Atlantic County Library serves 214,422 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
671K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
134,299 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 24 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Atlantic County Library, 40 Farragut Avenue, Mays Landing.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Atlantic County Library branch.
New in Hamilton Township? 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 $1.20 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: $36. Operating budget $8.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.9M 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 25,287 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 | Atlantic County Library | — | 57 | C− |
| Egg Harbor Township | Egg Harbor Township Branch | — | 56 | C |
| Mays Landing | Atlantic County Library | — | 57 | — graded as part of its town |
| Galloway Township | Galloway Township Branch Library | — | 56 | C |
| Weymouth Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Estell Manor | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Buena Vista Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Richland | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Mullica 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.
- System-wide. Atlantic County Library serves 214,422 people in and around Hamilton Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hamilton Township.
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. Atlantic County Library, 40 Farragut Avenue, serves 214,422 people in and around Hamilton Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Atlantic County 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 Hamilton Township’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Hamilton Township’s civic life grade?
C− Hamilton Township is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on civic life, #364 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.