Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Maple Shade Township’s library is a branch of Burlington County Library, which lends less per resident than 57% of systems its size
Maple Shade Township’s library is the Maple Shade Branch, a branch of Burlington County Library, which serves 363,983 people and lent 1.4M items last year.
What stands out about Maple Shade Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Maple Shade Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Maple Shade Township is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns, #287 of 466 in New Jersey. Maple Shade Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$99K) 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 →
59 community nonprofits are registered in Maple Shade Township
2.9 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.4%
7.4% of Maple Shade 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 Maple Shade Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Burlington County Library serves 363,983 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 57 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Burlington County Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
415,628 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 30 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
Maple Shade Branch, 200 Stiles Avenue, Maple Shade.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Burlington County Library branch.
New in Maple Shade 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 $1.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Maple Shade Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $13M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $22M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $13M 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 55,195 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moorestown-Lenola | Moorestown Library fine-free | 12.4 | 65 | — graded as part of its town |
| Moorestown Township | Moorestown Library fine-free | 12.4 | 65 | A |
| Mount Laurel Township | Mount Laurel Free Public Library fine-free | 9.3 | 68 | C+ |
| Cherry Hill Township | Cherry Hill Free Public Library | 4.5 | 55 | C+ |
| Pennsauken Township | Pennsauken Free Pub. Lib. | 1.0 | — | D |
| Maple Shade Township | Maple Shade Branch fine-free | — | 53 | C |
| Cinnaminson Township | Cinnaminson Branch Library fine-free | — | 55 | B− |
| Cherry Hill Mall | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Kingston Estates | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Ramblewood | 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.
- System-wide. Maple Shade Branch is one branch of Burlington County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 363,983 people it serves.
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 Maple Shade Township
Does Maple Shade Township have a public library?
Yes: Maple Shade Branch, 200 Stiles Avenue, is a branch of Burlington County Library, which serves 363,983 people. The branch is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Burlington County 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 Maple Shade Township’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Maple Shade Township’s civic life grade?
C Maple Shade Township is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on civic life, #287 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 Maple Shade 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.