Photo: User:NHRHS2010 · Public domainRamsey’s library logs 6.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Ramsey Free Public Library serves Ramsey’s 14,798 residents. Last year it lent 173K books, movies and e-books and logged 97K visits.
What Ramsey’s library is like
Ramsey uses its library more than almost any town its size
Ramsey Free Public Library logs 6.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 8.6 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Ramsey’s library lends 12 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Allendale at 13. Libraries next door ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Ramsey invests in its library
Ramsey Free Public Library spends $95 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) 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.
What’s behind Ramsey’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ramsey is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #34 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 →
70 community nonprofits are registered in Ramsey
4.7 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 (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.
10.5%
10.5% of Ramsey’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 Ramsey’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 56 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ramsey Free Public Library serves 14,798 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
173K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 82K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
45,515 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Ramsey last year.
Find it
Ramsey Free Public Library, 30 Wyckoff Avenue, Ramsey.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ramsey? 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 $2.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ramsey cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 8,653 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Ramsey ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allendale | Lee Memorial Library | 13.4 | 54 | A |
| Upper Saddle River | Upper Saddle River Public Library fine-free | 12.6 | 59 | A+ |
| Mahwah Township | Mahwah Free Public Library | 12.2 | 62 | B+ |
| Ramsey | Ramsey Free Public Library fine-free | 11.7 | 60 | A |
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 Ramsey
Does Ramsey have a public library?
Yes. Ramsey Free Public Library, 30 Wyckoff Avenue, serves Ramsey’s 14,798 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ramsey 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 Ramsey’s library?
It logged 6.5 visits and lent 11.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Ramsey’s civic life grade?
A Ramsey is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life, #34 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 Ramsey.
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.