Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ, M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Lyndhurst Township’s library runs 14 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Lyndhurst Free Public Library serves Lyndhurst Township’s 22,519 residents. Last year it lent 67K books, movies and e-books and logged 63K visits.
What’s behind Lyndhurst Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lyndhurst Township is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #360 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Lyndhurst Township’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($84K–$140K) 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 →
63 community nonprofits are registered in Lyndhurst Township
2.8 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.8%
4.8% of Lyndhurst 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 Lyndhurst Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lyndhurst Free Public Library serves 22,519 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
A year at Lyndhurst Free Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
67K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 50K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
15,707 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 Lyndhurst Township last year.
Find it
Lyndhurst Free Public Library, 355 Valley Brook Avenue, Lyndhurst.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lyndhurst 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 $1.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lyndhurst Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $960K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $960K 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 6,156 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Lyndhurst Township ranks 4th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutherford | Rutherford Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 8.7 | 51 | A− |
| Nutley Township | Nutley Free Public Library | 7.1 | 60 | C |
| Secaucus | Secaucus Free Public Library | 4.5 | 71 | C− |
| Lyndhurst Township | Lyndhurst Free Public Library | 3.0 | — | C− |
| North Arlington | No. Arlington Public Library | 3.0 | 73 | D |
| Kearny | Kearny Public Library | 2.0 | 47 | D |
| Belleville Township | Belleville Free Public Library fine-free | 0.9 | 52 | 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: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Lyndhurst Free Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Lyndhurst Township
Does Lyndhurst Township have a public library?
Yes. Lyndhurst Free Public Library, 355 Valley Brook Avenue, serves Lyndhurst Township’s 22,519 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Lyndhurst 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 Lyndhurst Township’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lyndhurst Township’s civic life grade?
C− Lyndhurst Township is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #360 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 Lyndhurst 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.