Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Hightstown’s library is a branch of Mercer County Library, which lends more per resident than 91% of systems its size
Hightstown’s library is the Hightstown Memorial Library, a branch of Mercer County Library, which serves 168,771 people and lent 1.7M items last year.
The short version on Hightstown’s library
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
The Mercer County Library system ran 7,611 programs last year, about 146 a week. That’s 45 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 170,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
The Mercer County Library system logs 5.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 8.6 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
The Mercer County Library system spends $103 per resident a year, about three times the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Hightstown’s library is a branch of Mercer County Library, so they cover the whole system (168,771 people), not just the Hightstown branch.
What’s behind Hightstown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hightstown is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #440 of 466 in New Jersey. Hightstown is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($82K–$136K) 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Hightstown
1.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.6%
4.6% of Hightstown’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 Hightstown’s residents live; 2022.
About 79 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Mercer County Library serves 168,771 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 103 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mercer County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1.7M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
238,582 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Hightstown Memorial Library, 114 Franklin Street, Hightstown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mercer County Library branch.
New in Hightstown? 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 $1.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hightstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $17M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $29M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $17M 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 91,212 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Hightstown Memorial Library is one branch of Mercer County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 168,771 people it serves.
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 Hightstown
Does Hightstown have a public library?
Yes: Hightstown Memorial Library, 114 Franklin Street, is a branch of Mercer County Library, which serves 168,771 people. The branch is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mercer 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 Hightstown’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 10.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Hightstown’s civic life grade?
D− Hightstown is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #440 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 Hightstown.
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.