Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Mendham’s library runs 173 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Mendham Free Public Library serves Mendham’s 4,981 residents. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 46K visits.
What Mendham’s library is like
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Mendham Free Public Library ran 862 programs last year, about 17 a week. That’s 173 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 15,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 17 items per child in Mendham last year. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
36% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 64%. What your card is worth ↓
People come to Mendham Free Public Library a lot
Mendham Free Public Library logs 9.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 28% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mendham is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #6 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Mendham’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 →
70 community nonprofits are registered in Mendham
14.1 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.9%
8.9% of Mendham’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’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mendham Free Public Library serves 4,981 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
14,599 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 Free Public Library, 10 Hilltop Road, Mendham.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mendham? 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 $2.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mendham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $342K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $904K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $342K 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 2,357 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Mendham borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mendham | Mendham Free Public Library | 10.4 | 51 | A+ |
| Mendham Township | Mendham Township Library | 5.9 | 48 | B+ |
| Brookside | Mendham Township Library | 5.9 | 48 | — 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 Mendham
Does Mendham have a public library?
Yes. Mendham Free Public Library, 10 Hilltop Road, serves Mendham’s 4,981 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mendham 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 Mendham’s library?
It logged 9.3 visits and lent 10.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mendham’s civic life grade?
A+ Mendham is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #6 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.
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.