John Jacob Bogert House · Photo: jim.henderson · CC BY-SA 3.0Harrington Park’s library lends 9.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Harrington Park Public Library serves Harrington Park’s 4,741 residents. Last year it lent 59K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
The short version on Harrington Park’s library
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 61%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in New Jersey for kids’ borrowing
Harrington Park ranks #19 of 215 New Jersey towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Harrington Park last year. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 168 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 23% of all loans. 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 Harrington Park’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Harrington Park is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #183 of 466 in New Jersey. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Harrington Park
4.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.8%
8.8% of Harrington Park’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 Harrington Park’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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 Harrington Park last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Harrington Park Public Library serves 4,741 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
59K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 48K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
13,794 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Harrington Park Public Library, 10 Herring Street, Harrington Park.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Harrington Park? 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 $2.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Harrington Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $391K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $871K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $391K 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 2,525 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Harrington Park ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closter | Closter Public Library | 19.7 | 55 | B+ |
| Harrington Park | Harrington Park Public Library | 12.5 | 45 | B− |
| Old Tappan | Old Tappan Free Public Library fine-free | 11.5 | 50 | A− |
| River Vale Township | River Vale Public Library | 10.3 | 58 | B |
| Norwood | Norwood Public Library | 8.4 | 50 | A |
| Emerson | Emerson Public Library | 6.9 | 45 | B− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Harrington Park 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 Harrington Park
Does Harrington Park have a public library?
Yes. Harrington Park Public Library, 10 Herring Street, serves Harrington Park’s 4,741 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Harrington Park Public 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 Harrington Park’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 12.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Harrington Park’s civic life grade?
B− Harrington Park is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life, #183 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 Harrington Park.
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.