Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Palisades Park’s library runs 33 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Palisades Park Free Public Library serves Palisades Park’s 20,292 residents. Last year it lent 88K books, movies and e-books and logged 54K visits.
The short version on Palisades Park’s library
Every town next door borrows more
Palisades Park’s library lends 4.4 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Fort Lee at 9.9. Libraries next door ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 71% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 71% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
84% of Palisades Park carry a library card
17,025 cards for 20,292 people, or 84%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
63% of the 668 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 219 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 8% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 83% of similar-size libraries. 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 Palisades Park’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Palisades Park is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #396 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Palisades Park’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 ($71K–$118K) 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 →
50 community nonprofits are registered in Palisades Park
2.5 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 (62 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 15 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.3%
2.3% of Palisades Park’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 Palisades Park’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Palisades Park Free Public Library serves 20,292 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
88K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 52K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
6,956 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 Palisades Park last year.
Find it
Palisades Park Free Public Library, 257 Second Street, Palisades Park.
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 Palisades Park? 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 Palisades Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 17,025 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Palisades Park ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Lee | Fort Lee Free Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 63 | C |
| Leonia | Leonia Public Library | 8.1 | 51 | B− |
| Ridgefield Park | Ridgefield Park Pub. Lib. | 4.8 | 54 | C |
| Ridgefield | Ridgefield Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 4.4 | — | D |
| Palisades Park | Palisades Park Free Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 53 | 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. Palisades Park 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 Palisades Park
Does Palisades Park have a public library?
Yes. Palisades Park Free Public Library, 257 Second Street, serves Palisades Park’s 20,292 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Palisades Park 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 Palisades Park’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Palisades Park’s civic life grade?
D Palisades Park is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on civic life, #396 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 Palisades Park.
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.