Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Phillipsburg’s library lends 1.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Phillipsburg Free Public Library serves Phillipsburg’s 15,249 residents. Last year it lent 30K books, movies and e-books and logged 38K visits.
What Phillipsburg’s library is like
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Phillipsburg Free Public Library holds 78,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 8% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 93% 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 Phillipsburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Phillipsburg is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns, #326 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Phillipsburg’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($51K–$85K) 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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Phillipsburg
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 (7 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.
6.3%
6.3% of Phillipsburg’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 Phillipsburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Phillipsburg Free Public Library serves 15,249 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
30K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 78K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
2,265 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Phillipsburg last year.
Find it
Phillipsburg Free Public Library, 200 Broubalow Way, Phillipsburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Phillipsburg? 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 Phillipsburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $904K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $499K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $904K 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 7,364 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phillipsburg | Phillipsburg Free Public Library fine-free | 2.0 | 53 | C |
| Pohatcong Township | Southwest Branch fine-free | — | 57 | C |
| Easton | Easton Area Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | C+ |
| Upper Pohatcong | Southwest Branch fine-free | — | 57 | — graded as part of its town |
| Lopatcong Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Williams Township | 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.
- 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 Phillipsburg
Does Phillipsburg have a public library?
Yes. Phillipsburg Free Public Library, 200 Broubalow Way, serves Phillipsburg’s 15,249 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Phillipsburg 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 Phillipsburg’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Phillipsburg’s civic life grade?
C Phillipsburg is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns on civic life, #326 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 Phillipsburg.
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.