Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0North Haledon’s library logs 2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
North Haledon Free Public Library serves North Haledon’s 8,927 residents. Last year it lent 45K books, movies and e-books and logged 18K visits.
What North Haledon’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
North Haledon’s library lends 5 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Wyckoff Township at 14. Libraries next door ↓
Programs lean toward adults
65% of the 288 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 99 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 North Haledon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, North Haledon is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #398 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
North Haledon’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($94K–$157K) 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in North Haledon
2.5 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 (7 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.
4.6%
4.6% of North Haledon’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 North Haledon’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
North Haledon Free Public Library serves 8,927 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
45K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
12,884 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 North Haledon last year.
Find it
No. Haledon Free Pub. Lib., 129 Overlook Avenue, North Haledon.
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 North Haledon? 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 $1.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average North Haledon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $577K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $707K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $577K 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 2,792 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
North Haledon ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyckoff Township | Wyckoff Free Public Library | 14.5 | 66 | A |
| Franklin Lakes | Franklin Lakes Free Public Library fine-free | 10.8 | 63 | A− |
| Wayne Township | Wayne Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 67 | B+ |
| Hawthorne | Louis Bay 2nd Library & Comm. Ctr. | 6.1 | 61 | C |
| North Haledon | No. Haledon Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 5.0 | 59 | D |
| Haledon | Haledon Public Library | — | — | D |
| Prospect Park | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. North Haledon 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 North Haledon
Does North Haledon have a public library?
Yes. North Haledon Free Public Library, 129 Overlook Avenue, serves North Haledon’s 8,927 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is North Haledon 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 North Haledon’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is North Haledon’s civic life grade?
D North Haledon is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on civic life, #398 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 North Haledon.
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.