Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 4.0Princeton’s library logs 22 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Princeton Public Library serves Princeton’s 30,681 residents. Last year it lent 589K books, movies and e-books and logged 689K visits.
The short version on Princeton’s library
Princeton has the most-used library in New Jersey
Out of 234 New Jersey towns with a library of their own, Princeton comes first for visits per resident. It’s also #4 for borrowing and #4 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Princeton uses its library more than almost any town its size
Princeton Public Library logs 22 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Princeton Public Library ran 2,025 programs last year, about 39 a week. That’s 66 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 116,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 56% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 35 items per child in Princeton last year. Kids & programs ↓
Princeton out-borrows every town next door
At 19 loans per resident, Princeton leads the four towns here. The closest is Plainsboro Township, at 12. Libraries next door ↓
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 Princeton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Princeton is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #11 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Princeton Public Library logged 22.4 visits per resident in FY2024, #19 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
289 community nonprofits are registered in Princeton
9.4 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 (44 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 31 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.1%
8.1% of Princeton’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 Princeton’s residents live; 2022.
About 16 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 Princeton last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Princeton Public Library serves 30,681 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 157 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
589K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 136K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
225,420 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street, Princeton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Princeton? 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 $1.78 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Princeton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.3M 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 25,364 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Princeton borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princeton | Princeton Public Library | 19.2 | 72 | A |
| Plainsboro Township | Plainsboro Free Pub. Lib. | 11.7 | 56 | B |
| South Brunswick Township | So. Brunswick Pub. Lib. | 8.2 | 83 | C+ |
| Franklin Township | Franklin Twp. Pub. Lib./Somerset | 4.8 | 61 | D |
| Montgomery Township | Montgomery Branch Library fine-free | — | 58 | A |
| West Windsor Township | West Windsor Branch Library | — | 42 | A− |
| Lawrence Township | Mercer County Library | — | 42 | B− |
| Hopewell Township | Hopewell Branch Library | — | 40 | A |
| Kingston | 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.
- Visits count everyone. Princeton’s 688,713 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Princeton
Does Princeton have a public library?
Yes. Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street, serves Princeton’s 30,681 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Princeton Public 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 Princeton’s library?
It logged 22.4 visits and lent 19.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Its visits per resident rank #19 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare.
What is Princeton’s civic life grade?
A Princeton is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on civic life, #11 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 Princeton.
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.