Civil War Drill Hall and Armory · Photo: KForce at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Leonia’s library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Leonia Public Library serves Leonia’s 9,304 residents. Last year it lent 75K books, movies and e-books and logged 119K visits.
Leonia’s library, in brief
Top 10% in New Jersey for library use
Leonia ranks #10 of 234 New Jersey towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 13 visits per resident, more than at 97% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Leonia Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Four of the five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
14,000 people came to the library’s 670 programs last year: 1.5 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 83% of similar-size libraries. 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 Leonia’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Leonia is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #223 of 466 in New Jersey. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Leonia
3.1 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.6%
4.6% of Leonia’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 Leonia’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Leonia Public Library serves 9,304 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
75K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
18,193 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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 Leonia last year.
Find it
Leonia Public Library, 227 Fort Lee Road, Leonia.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Leonia? 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 $1.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Leonia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $693K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $693K 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 4,602 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Leonia ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Lee | Fort Lee Free Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 63 | C |
| Leonia | Leonia Public Library | 8.1 | 51 | B− |
| Teaneck Township | Teaneck Public Library fine-free | 7.1 | 68 | C+ |
| Englewood | Englewood Library fine-free | 6.2 | 64 | C+ |
| Ridgefield Park | Ridgefield Park Pub. Lib. | 4.8 | 54 | C |
| Palisades Park | Palisades Park Free Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 53 | 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 Leonia
Does Leonia have a public library?
Yes. Leonia Public Library, 227 Fort Lee Road, serves Leonia’s 9,304 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Leonia 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 Leonia’s library?
It logged 12.7 visits and lent 8.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Leonia’s civic life grade?
B− Leonia is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #223 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 Leonia.
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.