Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Hanover Township’s library lends 2.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Whippanong Library/Hanover Township serves Hanover Township’s 14,677 residents. Last year it lent 61K books, movies and e-books and logged 31K visits.
What Hanover Township’s library is like
Programs lean toward adults
54% of the 353 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 153 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans, more per resident than at 66% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 60%, much of it kids’ books. 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 Hanover Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hanover Township is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #219 of 466 in New Jersey. Hanover Township’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
106 community nonprofits are registered in Hanover Township
7.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.3%
6.3% of Hanover 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 Hanover Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Whippanong Library/Hanover Township serves 14,677 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
40% of borrowing is digital
61K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
23,981 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Hanover Township last year.
2 places to borrow in Hanover Township
Whippanong Lib/Hanover Twsp., 1000 Route 10, Whippany.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hanover Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Hanover Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hanover Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $602K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $949K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $602K 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 4,058 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Hanover Township ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morris Plains | Morris Plains Library | 8.1 | 41 | C+ |
| Parsippany-Troy Hills Township | Parsippany-Troy Hills P.L. fine-free | 7.2 | 66 | C+ |
| East Hanover Township | East Hanover Twsp. Public Library | 4.6 | 65 | B− |
| Hanover Township | Whippanong Lib/Hanover Twsp. | 4.1 | 47 | B− |
| Whippany | Whippanong Lib/Hanover Twsp. | 4.1 | 47 | — graded as part of its town |
| Morris Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Cedar Knolls | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Troy Hills | 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 Hanover Township
Does Hanover Township have a public library?
Yes. Whippanong Library/Hanover Township, 1000 Route 10, serves Hanover Township’s 14,677 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Whippanong Library/Hanover Township 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 Hanover Township’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Hanover Township’s civic life grade?
B− Hanover Township is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #219 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 Hanover 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.