Eckerson House · Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Montvale’s library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Montvale Free Public Library serves Montvale’s 8,436 residents. Last year it lent 162K books, movies and e-books and logged 44K visits.
Montvale’s library, in brief
Montvale ranks 5th in New Jersey for borrowing
Out of 234 New Jersey towns with a library of their own, Montvale comes 5th for items borrowed per resident. How it compares ↓
Montvale out-borrows every town next door
At 19 loans per resident, Montvale leads the four towns here. The closest is Upper Saddle River, at 13. Libraries next door ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 27% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 18 items per child in Montvale last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
55% of the 199 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 90 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Montvale invests in its library
Montvale Free Public Library spends $96 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Montvale’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Montvale is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #51 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Montvale’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 →
51 community nonprofits are registered in Montvale
5.7 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. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.5%
9.5% of Montvale’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 Montvale’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
162K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
18,813 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Montvale Free Public Library serves 8,436 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 60 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
About 2 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 Montvale last year.
Find it
Montvale Free Public Library, 12 Mercedes Drive, Montvale.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Montvale? 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 $3.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Montvale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $810K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $810K 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 4,526 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Montvale borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montvale | Montvale Free Public Library fine-free | 19.2 | 52 | A |
| Upper Saddle River | Upper Saddle River Public Library fine-free | 12.6 | 59 | A+ |
| River Vale Township | River Vale Public Library | 10.3 | 58 | B |
| Park Ridge | Park Ridge Free Pub. Lib. | 7.6 | 45 | C+ |
| Woodcliff Lake | None of its own | — | — | B |
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: books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Montvale
Does Montvale have a public library?
Yes. Montvale Free Public Library, 12 Mercedes Drive, serves Montvale’s 8,436 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Montvale Free Public 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 Montvale’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 19.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Montvale’s civic life grade?
A Montvale is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #51 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 Montvale.
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.