Photo: Alansohn · CC BY-SA 4.0New Brunswick’s library lends 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
New Brunswick Free Public Library serves New Brunswick’s 55,266 residents. Last year it lent 41K books, movies and e-books and logged 85K visits.
The short version on New Brunswick’s library
Every town next door borrows more
New Brunswick’s library lends 0.7 items per resident. Each of the seven neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by East Brunswick Township at 11. Libraries next door ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people New Brunswick Free Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
59% of the 841 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 245 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 New Brunswick’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, New Brunswick is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #402 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; New Brunswick’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($49K–$82K) 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 →
178 community nonprofits are registered in New Brunswick
3.2 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 (51 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.1%
3.1% of New Brunswick’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 New Brunswick’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
New Brunswick Free Public Library serves 55,266 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
41K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,781 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
New Brunswick Free Pub. Lib., 60 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in New Brunswick? 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 New Brunswick cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $811K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 8,614 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
New Brunswick ranks 8th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Brunswick Township | East Brunswick Public Library | 10.7 | 65 | B+ |
| Highland Park | Highland Park Public Library fine-free | 6.4 | 58 | C+ |
| Edison Township | Edison Twsp. Free Public Lib fine-free | 5.6 | 68 | C− |
| Franklin Township | Franklin Twp. Pub. Lib./Somerset | 4.8 | 61 | D |
| East Franklin | Lewis Street Branch | 4.8 | 26 | — graded as part of its town |
| North Brunswick Township | No. Brunswick Free Pub. Lib. | 3.6 | 60 | D |
| Piscataway Township | Piscataway Public Library fine-free | 3.6 | 62 | C− |
| New Brunswick | New Brunswick Free Pub. Lib. | 0.7 | 58 | D |
| Somerset | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Voorhees | 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.
- 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 New Brunswick
Does New Brunswick have a public library?
Yes. New Brunswick Free Public Library, 60 Livingston Avenue, serves New Brunswick’s 55,266 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is New Brunswick 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 New Brunswick’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is New Brunswick’s civic life grade?
D New Brunswick is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #402 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 New Brunswick.
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.