Photo: Brandon S. Jacobsen · CC BY-SA 3.0Raritan Township’s library lends 5.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Hunterdon County Library serves 118,700 people in and around Raritan Township. Last year it lent 934K books, movies and e-books and logged 315K visits.
The short version on Raritan Township’s library
Open about 68 hours a week
The Raritan Township branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
75% of the people it serves carry a library card
89,159 cards for 118,700 people, or 75%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
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; Hunterdon County Library serves 118,700 people in and around Raritan Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Raritan Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Raritan Township is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #93 of 466 in New Jersey. Raritan Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
111 community nonprofits are registered in Raritan Township
4.6 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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.3%
9.3% of Raritan 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 Raritan Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Hunterdon County Library serves 118,700 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Hunterdon County Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hunterdon County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
934K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
264,269 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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
Hunterdon County Library, 314 State Highway 12, Bldg. #3, Flemington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hunterdon County Library branch.
New in Raritan 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 $2.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Raritan Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.4M 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 89,159 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raritan Township | Hunterdon County Library | — | 68 | A− |
| Hillsborough Township | Hillsborough Branch Library fine-free | — | 58 | B− |
| Readington Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Delaware Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| East Amwell Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Three Bridges | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Clinton Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Franklin Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Ringoes | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Hunterdon County Library serves 118,700 people in and around Raritan Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Raritan Township.
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 Raritan Township
Does Raritan Township have a public library?
Yes. Hunterdon County Library, 314 State Highway 12, Bldg. #3, serves 118,700 people in and around Raritan Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hunterdon County 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 Raritan Township’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 7.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Raritan Township’s civic life grade?
A− Raritan Township is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #93 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 Raritan 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.