Photo: Tinton5 · CC BY-SA 3.0Manalapan Township’s library logs 1.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Monmouth County Library serves 425,110 people in and around Manalapan Township. Last year it lent 2.3M books, movies and e-books and logged 803K visits.
The short version on Manalapan Township’s library
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 4,091 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 44 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
The Manalapan Township branch is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Monmouth County Library serves 425,110 people in and around Manalapan Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Manalapan Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Manalapan Township is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #247 of 466 in New Jersey. Manalapan Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Manalapan Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($115K–$191K) 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 →
107 community nonprofits are registered in Manalapan Township
2.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.5%
8.5% of Manalapan 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 Manalapan Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Monmouth County Library serves 425,110 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 67 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Monmouth County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
828,797 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 59 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Monmouth County Library, 125 Symmes Drive, Manalapan Twp..
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Monmouth County Library branch.
New in Manalapan 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 $2.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Manalapan Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $17M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $35M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $17M 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 105,663 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe Township | Monroe Township Public Library fine-free | 8.6 | 63 | C+ |
| Manalapan Township | Monmouth County Library | — | 66 | C+ |
| Marlboro Township | Marlboro Library | — | 56 | C |
| Robertsville | Marlboro Library | — | 56 | — graded as part of its town |
| Millstone Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Freehold Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
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.
- System-wide. Monmouth County Library serves 425,110 people in and around Manalapan Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Manalapan Township.
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 Manalapan Township
Does Manalapan Township have a public library?
Yes. Monmouth County Library, 125 Symmes Drive, serves 425,110 people in and around Manalapan Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monmouth County 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 Manalapan Township’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Manalapan Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Manalapan Township is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #247 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 Manalapan 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.