Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Harding Township’s library runs 142 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Harding Township Library serves Harding Township’s 3,871 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
Harding Township’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
70% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 21%. What your card is worth ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Harding Township Library ran 551 programs last year, about 11 a week. That’s 142 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 12,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Harding Township’s library lends 6.5 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Bernardsville at 16. Libraries next door ↓
Programs lean toward adults
69% of the 551 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 153 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 65% of similar-size libraries. 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 Harding Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Harding Township is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #209 of 466 in New Jersey. Harding Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Harding Township
10.4 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of Harding 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 Harding Township’s residents live; 2022.
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 Harding Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Harding Township Library serves 3,871 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,023 books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
9,528 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Harding Township Library, 19 Blue Mill Road, New Vernon.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Harding 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 $1.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Harding Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $272K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $487K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $272K 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 1,977 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Harding Township ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernardsville | Bernardsville Public Library | 15.7 | 51 | A |
| Long Hill Township | Long Hill Township Free Public Library fine-free | 13.1 | 48 | A |
| Bernards Township | Bernards Towhship Library | 12.6 | 54 | B+ |
| Basking Ridge | Bernards Towhship Library | 12.6 | 54 | — graded as part of its town |
| Harding Township | Harding Township Library | 6.5 | 38 | B− |
| Morris Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Chatham Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Green Village | 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 Harding Township
Does Harding Township have a public library?
Yes. Harding Township Library, 19 Blue Mill Road, serves Harding Township’s 3,871 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Harding Township 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 Harding Township’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Harding Township’s civic life grade?
B− Harding Township is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #209 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 Harding 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.