Photo: Freeholdman12 · CC BY-SA 4.0Howell Township’s library is a branch of Monmouth County Library, which lends more per resident than 55% of systems its size
Howell Township’s library is the Howell Public Library, a branch of Monmouth County Library, which serves 425,110 people and lent 2.3M items last year.
What Howell Township’s library is like
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
The Monmouth County Library system charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 4,091 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 44 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Howell Township’s library is a branch of Monmouth County Library, so they cover the whole system (425,110 people), not just the Howell Township branch.
What’s behind Howell Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Howell Township is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #285 of 466 in New Jersey. Howell Township 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 ($101K–$169K) 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 →
170 community nonprofits are registered in Howell Township
3.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (60 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.2%
7.2% of Howell 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 Howell Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Monmouth County Library serves 425,110 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 67 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Monmouth County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
828,797 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 59 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.
Find it
Howell Public Library, 318 Old Tavern Road, Howell.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Monmouth County Library branch.
New in Howell 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 $2.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Howell Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $17M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $35M 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 105,663 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howell Township | Howell Public Library | — | 57 | C |
| Lakewood Township | Lakewood Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | C− |
| Jackson Township | Jackson Branch Library fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| Wall Township | Wall Public Library | — | 58 | A− |
| Brick Township | Brick Branch Library fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| Colts Neck Township | Colts Neck Branch Library | — | 43 | B |
| Ramtown | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Freehold Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
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.
- System-wide. Howell Public Library is one branch of Monmouth County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 425,110 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 Howell Township
Does Howell Township have a public library?
Yes: Howell Public Library, 318 Old Tavern Road, is a branch of Monmouth County Library, which serves 425,110 people. The branch is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monmouth 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 Howell Township’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Howell Township’s civic life grade?
C Howell Township is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #285 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 Howell 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.