Photo: Dorian Wallender from Lake Havasu City, Arizona, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Neptune Township’s library runs 23 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Neptune Township Public Library serves Neptune Township’s 28,061 residents. Last year it lent 60K books, movies and e-books and logged 49K visits.
Neptune Township’s library, in brief
Well funded, but lightly used
Neptune Township Public Library spends $77 per resident, more than 83% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 71% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Most of Neptune Township’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 59% of loans. Print still makes up 41%. What people borrow ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Neptune Township Public Library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, fewer than 91% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Neptune Township Public Library holds 71,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Neptune Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Neptune Township is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #346 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Neptune Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($76K–$126K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
95 community nonprofits are registered in Neptune Township
3.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (27 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.
6.3%
6.3% of Neptune 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 Neptune Township’s residents live; 2022.
59% of borrowing is digital
60K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 71K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
35,297 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Neptune Township Public Library serves 28,061 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Find it
Neptune Township Public Library, 25 Neptune Boulevard, Neptune.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Neptune Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Neptune Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M 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 15,975 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Neptune Township ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avon-by-the-Sea | Avon Free Public Library | 11.4 | 39 | B+ |
| Bradley Beach | Bradley Beach Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 50 | B− |
| Belmar | Belmar Public Library fine-free | 2.7 | 58 | B |
| Neptune Township | Neptune Township Public Library | 2.1 | 46 | C− |
| Asbury Park | Asbury Park Free Public Library fine-free | 1.3 | 48 | D |
| Wall Township | Wall Public Library | — | 58 | A− |
| Tinton Falls | Tinton Falls Public Library | — | — | C− |
| Ocean Township | Ocean Township Public Library | — | 58 | B− |
| Neptune City | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Shark River Hills | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Ocean Grove | None of its own | — | — | — 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 Neptune Township
Does Neptune Township have a public library?
Yes. Neptune Township Public Library, 25 Neptune Boulevard, serves Neptune Township’s 28,061 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Neptune Township 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 Neptune Township’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Neptune Township’s civic life grade?
C− Neptune Township is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #346 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 Neptune 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.