Photo: JERRYE · CC BY-SA 4.0Hillsdale’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Hillsdale Free Public Library serves Hillsdale’s 10,143 residents. Last year it lent 139K books, movies and e-books and logged 71K visits.
Hillsdale’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 61% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 32 items per child in Hillsdale last year. Kids & programs ↓
Hillsdale ranks 6th in New Jersey for kids’ borrowing
Out of 215 New Jersey towns with a library of their own, Hillsdale comes 6th for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #13 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
Hillsdale uses its library more than almost any town its size
Hillsdale Free Public Library logs 7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Hillsdale out-borrows every town next door
At 14 loans per resident, Hillsdale leads the five towns here. The closest is River Vale Township, at 10. Libraries next door ↓
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 Hillsdale’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hillsdale is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #106 of 466 in New Jersey. Library visits hold the grade up; Hillsdale’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
35 community nonprofits are registered in Hillsdale
3.5 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.0%
9.0% of Hillsdale’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 Hillsdale’s residents live; 2022.
390 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Hillsdale last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Hillsdale Free Public Library serves 10,143 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 51 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
139K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 61K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
25,715 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Hillsdale Free Public Library, 509 Hillsdale Avenue, Hillsdale.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hillsdale? 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 $2.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hillsdale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $732K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $732K 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 5,551 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Hillsdale borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsdale | Hillsdale Free Public Library | 13.7 | 53 | B+ |
| River Vale Township | River Vale Public Library | 10.3 | 58 | B |
| Westwood | Westwood Free Public Library | 9.5 | 55 | A− |
| Washington Township | Wash. Twp Pub Lib/Westwood fine-free | 8.5 | 59 | B |
| Park Ridge | Park Ridge Free Pub. Lib. | 7.6 | 45 | C+ |
| Woodcliff Lake | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Saddle River | None of its own | — | — | A |
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 Hillsdale
Does Hillsdale have a public library?
Yes. Hillsdale Free Public Library, 509 Hillsdale Avenue, serves Hillsdale’s 10,143 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hillsdale Free 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 Hillsdale’s library?
It logged 7.0 visits and lent 13.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Hillsdale’s civic life grade?
B+ Hillsdale is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #106 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 Hillsdale.
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.