Photo: Bryan Housel · CC BY-SA 3.0Mountainside’s library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Mountainside Free Public Library serves Mountainside’s 7,020 residents. Last year it lent 44K books, movies and e-books and logged 29K visits.
The short version on Mountainside’s library
Every town next door borrows more
Mountainside’s library lends 6.2 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Summit at 13. Libraries next door ↓
Mountainside invests in its library
Mountainside Free Public Library spends $114 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) 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 Mountainside’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mountainside is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #55 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Mountainside
5.3 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
12.5%
12.5% of Mountainside’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 Mountainside’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mountainside cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $802K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $709K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $802K 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 3,253 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
Mountainside Free Public Library serves 7,020 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
44K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 51K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
9,143 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Mountainside last year.
Find it
Mountainside Free Public Library, 1 Constitution Plaza, Mountainside.
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 Mountainside? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Mountainside ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summit | Summit Free Public Library fine-free | 13.2 | 64 | A |
| Westfield | Westfield Memorial Library fine-free | 9.5 | 62 | B+ |
| Berkeley Heights Township | Berkeley Heights Free Public Library fine-free | 7.7 | 67 | B+ |
| Mountainside | Mountainside Free Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 52 | 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 Mountainside
Does Mountainside have a public library?
Yes. Mountainside Free Public Library, 1 Constitution Plaza, serves Mountainside’s 7,020 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mountainside 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 Mountainside’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 6.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mountainside’s civic life grade?
A Mountainside is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #55 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 Mountainside.
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.