Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Pohatcong Township’s library is a branch of Warren County Library, which lends more per resident than 57% of systems its size
Pohatcong Township’s library is the Southwest Branch, a branch of Warren County Library, which serves 74,508 people and lent 410K items last year.
What stands out about Southwest Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Pohatcong Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Pohatcong Township is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #302 of 466 in New Jersey. Pohatcong Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Pohatcong Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($78K–$130K) 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Pohatcong Township
3.3 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Pohatcong Township’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 Pohatcong Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Warren County Library serves 74,508 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at Warren County Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Warren County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
410K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
78,148 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Southwest Branch, 404 Route 519, Phillipsburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Warren County Library branch.
New in Pohatcong Township? 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 $1.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pohatcong Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.3M 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 12,913 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 |
| Holland Township | Holland Township Free Public Library | — | — | A− |
| Riegelsville | Riegelsville Public Library | — | 29 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Upper Pohatcong | Southwest Branch fine-free | — | 57 | — graded as part of its town |
| Finesville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Williams Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Raubsville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Greenwich Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Bloomsbury | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lopatcong Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- System-wide. Southwest Branch is one branch of Warren County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 74,508 people it serves.
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 Pohatcong Township
Does Pohatcong Township have a public library?
Yes: Southwest Branch, 404 Route 519, is a branch of Warren County Library, which serves 74,508 people. The branch is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Warren County 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 Pohatcong Township’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 5.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Pohatcong Township’s civic life grade?
C Pohatcong Township is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #302 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 Pohatcong Township.
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.