Ward-Force House and Condit Family Cook House · Photo: Jared Kofsky/PlaceNJ.com · CC BY-SA 3.0Livingston Township’s library logs 8.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Ruth L. Rockwood Memorial Library serves Livingston Township’s 31,330 residents. Last year it lent 485K books, movies and e-books and logged 273K visits.
Livingston Township’s library, in brief
Livingston Township uses its library more than almost any town its size
Ruth L. Rockwood Memorial Library logs 8.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 64% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 29 items per child in Livingston Township last year. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in New Jersey for borrowing
Livingston Township ranks #9 of 234 New Jersey towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 12 items per resident, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. It’s 25% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Ruth L. Rockwood Memorial Library ran 1,071 programs last year, about 21 a week. That’s 34 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 69,000 attended. 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.
What’s behind Livingston Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Livingston Township is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #40 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
166 community nonprofits are registered in Livingston Township
5.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (21 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 12 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.7%
8.7% of Livingston 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 Livingston Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 Livingston Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Ruth L. Rockwood Memorial Library serves 31,330 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 156 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
485K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 129K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year, on average.
123,073 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Livingston Free Public Library, 10 Robert H. Harp Drive, Livingston.
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 Livingston 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 $2.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Livingston Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.9M 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 18,678 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Livingston Township ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millburn Township | Millburn Free Public Library fine-free | 19.7 | 63 | A− |
| Livingston Township | Livingston Free Public Library fine-free | 15.5 | 60 | A |
| Florham Park | Florham Park Free Public Library | 12.1 | 61 | A− |
| Roseland | Roseland Public Library fine-free | 11.1 | 48 | A |
| West Orange Township | West Orange Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 4.8 | 60 | C+ |
| East Hanover Township | East Hanover Twsp. Public Library | 4.6 | 65 | B− |
| Short Hills | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Livingston Township
Does Livingston Township have a public library?
Yes. Ruth L. Rockwood Memorial Library, 10 Robert H. Harp Drive, serves Livingston Township’s 31,330 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ruth L. Rockwood Memorial 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 Livingston Township’s library?
It logged 8.7 visits and lent 15.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Livingston Township’s civic life grade?
A Livingston Township is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #40 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 Livingston 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.