Photo: Smallbones · Public domainPitman’s library logs 7.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Mccowan Memorial Library serves Pitman’s 8,780 residents. Last year it lent 28K books, movies and e-books and logged 62K visits.
The short version on Pitman’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 86% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 34%. The building also logs about 2 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Programs are almost all for children
87% of the 416 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 70 hours a week
Mccowan Memorial Library is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 50% 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 Pitman’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pitman is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #27 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
45 community nonprofits are registered in Pitman
5.1 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 (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.
10.0%
10.0% of Pitman’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 Pitman’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mccowan Memorial Library serves 8,780 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
28K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
3,729 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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 Pitman last year.
Find it
Mccowan Memorial Library, 15 Pitman Avenue, Pitman.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pitman? 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 $1.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pitman cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $328K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $439K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $328K 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 4,356 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Township | Margaret E Heggan Public Library | 4.9 | 62 | C− |
| Pitman | Mccowan Memorial Library | 3.2 | 70 | A |
| Glassboro | Glassboro Branch Library | — | 53 | C− |
| Mantua Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Richwood | 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.
- 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 Pitman
Does Pitman have a public library?
Yes. Mccowan Memorial Library, 15 Pitman Avenue, serves Pitman’s 8,780 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mccowan Memorial 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 Pitman’s library?
It logged 7.1 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Pitman’s civic life grade?
A Pitman is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life, #27 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 Pitman.
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.