Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0Point Pleasant’s library is a branch of Ocean County Library, which lends more per resident than 71% of systems its size
Point Pleasant’s library is the Point Pleasant Branch Library, a branch of Ocean County Library, which serves 636,202 people and lent 4.1M items last year.
What Point Pleasant’s library is like
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
The Ocean County Library system ran 14,768 programs last year, about 284 a week. That’s 23 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 335,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
The Ocean County Library system spends $73 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Point Pleasant’s library is a branch of Ocean County Library, so they cover the whole system (636,202 people), not just the Point Pleasant branch.
What’s behind Point Pleasant’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Point Pleasant is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #131 of 466 in New Jersey. Point Pleasant is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Point Pleasant’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
89 community nonprofits are registered in Point Pleasant
4.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
8.2%
8.2% of Point Pleasant’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 Point Pleasant’s residents live; 2022.
About 64 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Ocean County Library serves 636,202 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 69 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ocean County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
4.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
890,642 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Point Pleasant Branch Library, 834 Beaver Dam Road, Point Pleasant.
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 Ocean County Library branch.
New in Point Pleasant? 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 $1.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Point Pleasant cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $47M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $64M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $47M 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 199,653 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brielle | Brielle Public Library | 5.7 | 43 | A |
| Point Pleasant | Point Pleasant Branch Library fine-free | — | 60 | B+ |
| Brick Township | Brick Branch Library fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| Point Pleasant Beach | Point Pleasant Beach Branch Library fine-free | — | 43 | B+ |
| Bay Head | Bay Head Reading Center fine-free | — | 35 | — graded with its twin city |
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. Point Pleasant Branch Library is one branch of Ocean County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 636,202 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 Point Pleasant
Does Point Pleasant have a public library?
Yes: Point Pleasant Branch Library, 834 Beaver Dam Road, is a branch of Ocean County Library, which serves 636,202 people. The branch is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ocean 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 Point Pleasant’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Point Pleasant’s civic life grade?
B+ Point Pleasant is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #131 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 Point Pleasant.
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.