Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Mountain Lakes’ library runs 164 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Mountain Lakes Free Public Library serves Mountain Lakes’s 4,472 residents. Last year it lent 53K books, movies and e-books and logged 26K visits.
Mountain Lakes’s library, in brief
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Mountain Lakes Free Public Library ran 733 programs last year, about 14 a week. That’s 164 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 10,000 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 90% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 14 items per child in Mountain Lakes last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 29% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Mountain Lakes invests in its library
Mountain Lakes Free Public Library spends $118 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (89%) 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 Mountain Lakes’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mountain Lakes is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #13 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Mountain Lakes’ 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 →
35 community nonprofits are registered in Mountain Lakes
7.6 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 (2 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.
10.6%
10.6% of Mountain Lakes’ 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 Mountain Lakes’ 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 Mountain Lakes 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.
Mountain Lakes Free Public Library serves 4,472 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
53K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 47K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
15,694 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mountain Lakes Free Public Library, 9 Elm Road, Mountain Lakes.
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 Mountain Lakes? 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 $1.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mountain Lakes cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $527K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $884K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $527K 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 2,294 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Mountain Lakes 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Lakes | Mountain Lakes Free Public Library fine-free | 11.9 | 53 | A |
| Parsippany-Troy Hills Township | Parsippany-Troy Hills P.L. fine-free | 7.2 | 66 | C+ |
| Boonton | The Holmes Library | 3.8 | 55 | B |
| Rainbow Lakes | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Parsippany | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Boonton 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Mountain Lakes Free Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Mountain Lakes
Does Mountain Lakes have a public library?
Yes. Mountain Lakes Free Public Library, 9 Elm Road, serves Mountain Lakes’ 4,472 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mountain Lakes 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 Mountain Lakes’ library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 11.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mountain Lakes’ civic life grade?
A Mountain Lakes is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on civic life, #13 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 Mountain Lakes.
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.