Photo: General Magnaplate · CC BY 3.0Linden’s library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Linden Free Public Library serves Linden’s 43,738 residents. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 73K visits.
The short version on Linden’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Linden Free Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on seven. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people Linden Free Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Linden Free Public Library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, fewer than 90% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Linden Free Public Library holds 68,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. 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 Linden’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Linden is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #417 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Linden’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($70K–$116K) 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 →
106 community nonprofits are registered in Linden
2.4 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 (53 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.1%
4.1% of Linden’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 Linden’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Linden Free Public Library serves 43,738 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 68K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
11,673 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Linden last year.
Find it
Linden Free Public Library, 31 E. Henry Street, Linden.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Linden? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Linden cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $989K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.6M 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 8,326 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Linden ranks 5th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cranford Township | Cranford Public Library fine-free | 9.4 | 58 | A− |
| Clark Township | Clark Public Library | 6.5 | 61 | A− |
| Woodbridge Township | Woodbridge Public Library | 3.6 | 68 | D |
| Rahway | Rahway Public Library fine-free | 2.3 | 50 | C− |
| Linden | Linden Free Public Library | 1.2 | 57 | D |
| Carteret | Carteret Public Library | 1.2 | 64 | D |
| Elizabeth | Elizabeth Free Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 53 | D |
| Roselle | Roselle Free Public Library | 0.6 | 48 | D− |
| New York | Brooklyn Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| Avenel | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Winfield Township | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- 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 Linden
Does Linden have a public library?
Yes. Linden Free Public Library, 31 E. Henry Street, serves Linden’s 43,738 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Linden 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 Linden’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Linden’s civic life grade?
D Linden is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #417 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 Linden.
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.