Photo: King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 4.0Hoboken’s library runs 32 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Hoboken Public Library serves Hoboken’s 60,419 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 255K books, movies and e-books and logged 237K visits.
Hoboken’s library, in brief
Hoboken out-borrows every town next door
At 4.2 loans per resident, Hoboken leads the four towns here. The closest is Weehawken Township, at 3. Libraries next door ↓
Programs draw a crowd
60,000 people came to the library’s 1,946 programs last year: 1 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Hoboken invests in its library
Hoboken Public Library spends $91 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) 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.
What’s behind Hoboken’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hoboken is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #262 of 466 in New Jersey. Library visits hold the grade up; Hoboken’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($135K–$226K) 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 →
159 community nonprofits are registered in Hoboken
2.7 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 (29 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.2%
7.2% of Hoboken’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 Hoboken’s residents live; 2022.
About 15 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 Hoboken last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Hoboken Public Library serves 60,419 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
255K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
61,566 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Hoboken
Hoboken Public Library, 500 Park Avenue, Hoboken.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hoboken? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Hoboken
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hoboken cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.5M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 31,848 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Hoboken borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoboken | Hoboken Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 59 | C+ |
| Weehawken Township | Weehawken Free Public Library | 3.0 | — | D |
| Jersey City | Jersey City Public Library | 1.9 | 60 | D |
| Union City | Union City Public Library fine-free | 0.8 | 54 | D− |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Hoboken
Does Hoboken have a public library?
Yes. Hoboken Public Library, 500 Park Avenue, serves Hoboken’s 60,419 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hoboken Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hoboken’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Hoboken’s civic life grade?
C+ Hoboken is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #262 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 Hoboken.
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.