Photo: Apc106 · CC BY-SA 3.0Little Silver’s library runs 47 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Little Silver Public Library serves Little Silver’s 6,131 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
Little Silver’s library, in brief
Most programs are for young children
79% of the 291 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone in Little Silver has a card
5,697 cards for 6,131 people, or 93%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Little Silver Public Library holds 29,000 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 Little Silver’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Little Silver is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #156 of 466 in New Jersey. Little Silver’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
42 community nonprofits are registered in Little Silver
6.9 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.1%
7.1% of Little Silver’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 Little Silver’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Little Silver Public Library serves 6,131 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
8,273 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Little Silver last year.
Find it
Little Silver Public Library, 484 Prospect Avenue, Little Silver.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Little Silver? 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 $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Little Silver cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $327K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $422K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $327K 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 5,697 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Bank | Red Bank Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 48 | A |
| Little Silver | Little Silver Public Library | 4.0 | 47 | B |
| Oceanport | Oceanport Library | — | 25 | A− |
| Shrewsbury | Eastern Branch Library | — | 66 | B |
| Rumson | Oceanic Free Library | — | — | B+ |
| Monmouth Beach | Monmouth Beach Pub. Lib. | — | — | B |
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 Little Silver
Does Little Silver have a public library?
Yes. Little Silver Public Library, 484 Prospect Avenue, serves Little Silver’s 6,131 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Little Silver 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 Little Silver’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Little Silver’s civic life grade?
B Little Silver is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #156 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 Little Silver.
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.