Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Mendham Township’s library runs 106 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Mendham Township Library serves Mendham Township’s 6,016 residents. Last year it lent 36K books, movies and e-books and logged 28K visits.
What Mendham Township’s library is like
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Mendham Township Library ran 637 programs last year, about 12 a week. That’s 106 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 13,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
30% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 69%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
57% of the 637 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 276 were for children. 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 Mendham Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mendham Township is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #113 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Mendham Township’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
33 community nonprofits are registered in Mendham Township
5.5 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.7%
7.7% of Mendham 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 Mendham Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 Mendham Township last year.
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.
Mendham Township Library serves 6,016 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
36K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
13,042 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mendham Township Library, 2 West Main Street, Brookside.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mendham 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 $2.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mendham Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $311K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $650K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $311K 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 1,875 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Mendham Township ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernardsville | Bernardsville Public Library | 15.7 | 51 | A |
| Mendham | Mendham Free Public Library | 10.4 | 51 | A+ |
| Randolph Township | Randolph Twsp. Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 9.1 | 64 | C |
| Mendham Township | Mendham Township Library | 5.9 | 48 | B+ |
| Brookside | Mendham Township Library | 5.9 | 48 | — graded as part of its town |
| Chester Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
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 Mendham Township
Does Mendham Township have a public library?
Yes. Mendham Township Library, 2 West Main Street, serves Mendham Township’s 6,016 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mendham Township 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 Mendham Township’s library?
It logged 4.7 visits and lent 5.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mendham Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Mendham Township is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #113 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 Mendham 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.