Photo: Jallgor · CC BY-SA 3.0River Vale Township’s library lends 7.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
River Vale Public Library serves River Vale Township’s 9,909 residents. Last year it lent 103K books, movies and e-books and logged 31K visits.
What stands out about River Vale Township’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind River Vale Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, River Vale Township is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #177 of 466 in New Jersey. River Vale Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
43 community nonprofits are registered in River Vale Township
4.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of River Vale 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 River Vale Township’s residents live; 2022.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
103K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 57K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
29,388 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
River Vale Public Library serves 9,909 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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 River Vale Township last year.
Find it
River Vale Public Library, 412 Rivervale Road, River Vale.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in River Vale 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 $2.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average River Vale Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $806K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $806K 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 5,472 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
River Vale Township ranks 5th of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montvale | Montvale Free Public Library fine-free | 19.2 | 52 | A |
| Hillsdale | Hillsdale Free Public Library | 13.7 | 53 | B+ |
| Harrington Park | Harrington Park Public Library | 12.5 | 45 | B− |
| Old Tappan | Old Tappan Free Public Library fine-free | 11.5 | 50 | A− |
| River Vale Township | River Vale Public Library | 10.3 | 58 | B |
| Westwood | Westwood Free Public Library | 9.5 | 55 | A− |
| Park Ridge | Park Ridge Free Pub. Lib. | 7.6 | 45 | C+ |
| Emerson | Emerson Public Library | 6.9 | 45 | B− |
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 are a typical-week estimate. River Vale 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 River Vale Township
Does River Vale Township have a public library?
Yes. River Vale Public Library, 412 Rivervale Road, serves River Vale Township’s 9,909 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is River Vale 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 River Vale Township’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 10.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is River Vale Township’s civic life grade?
B River Vale Township is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life, #177 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 River Vale 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.