Photo: Lenier81 · CC BY-SA 4.0Ridgefield’s library runs 39 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Ridgefield Free Public Library serves Ridgefield’s 11,501 residents. Last year it lent 50K books, movies and e-books and logged 32K visits.
What stands out about Ridgefield’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Ridgefield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ridgefield is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns, #408 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Ridgefield’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($89K–$148K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Ridgefield
1.7 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 (29 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.1%
3.1% of Ridgefield’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 Ridgefield’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ridgefield Free Public Library serves 11,501 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
A year at Ridgefield Free Pub. Lib.
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves and hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
50K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,696 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Ridgefield last year.
Find it
Ridgefield Free Pub. Lib., 527 Morse Avenue, Ridgefield.
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 Ridgefield? 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 $1.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ridgefield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $914K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $916K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $914K 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 3,546 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Ridgefield ranks 4th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlstadt | William E. Dermody Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 50 | C+ |
| Cliffside Park | Cliffside Park Free Library fine-free | 7.0 | 61 | D− |
| Ridgefield Park | Ridgefield Park Pub. Lib. | 4.8 | 54 | C |
| Ridgefield | Ridgefield Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 4.4 | — | D |
| Palisades Park | Palisades Park Free Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 53 | D |
| Little Ferry | Little Ferry Free Public Library | 2.2 | 49 | D− |
| North Bergen Township | North Bergen Public Library | 1.9 | 63 | D− |
| Fairview | Fairview Free Public Library fine-free | 1.2 | 54 | D− |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves and hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Ridgefield Free Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Ridgefield
Does Ridgefield have a public library?
Yes. Ridgefield Free Public Library, 527 Morse Avenue, serves Ridgefield’s 11,501 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Ridgefield 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 Ridgefield’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Ridgefield’s civic life grade?
D Ridgefield is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life, #408 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 Ridgefield.
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.