Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Northvale’s library runs 104 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Northvale Public Library serves Northvale’s 4,761 residents. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What Northvale’s library is like
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Northvale Public Library ran 496 programs last year, about 10 a week. That’s 104 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 71% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 496 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.4 a week for ages 0–5. 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 Northvale’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Northvale is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #128 of 466 in New Jersey. Northvale’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Northvale
5.1 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 (6 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.
9.0%
9.0% of Northvale’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 Northvale’s 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 Northvale last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Northvale Public Library serves 4,761 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
5,059 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Northvale Public Library, 116 Paris Avenue, Northvale.
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 Northvale? 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 $1.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Northvale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $341K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $424K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $341K 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 1,908 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Northvale ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Tappan | Old Tappan Free Public Library fine-free | 11.5 | 50 | A− |
| Norwood | Norwood Public Library | 8.4 | 50 | A |
| Northvale | Northvale Public Library fine-free | 5.4 | 42 | B+ |
| Rockleigh | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Northvale
Does Northvale have a public library?
Yes. Northvale Public Library, 116 Paris Avenue, serves Northvale’s 4,761 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northvale 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 Northvale’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Northvale’s civic life grade?
B+ Northvale is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on civic life, #128 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 Northvale.
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.