Photo: Jared Kofsky/Placenj.com · CC BY-SA 3.0Riverside Township’s library logs 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Riverside Public Library serves Riverside Township’s 8,003 residents. Last year it lent 4,270 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,537 visits.
Riverside Township’s library, in brief
Riverside Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Riverside Public Library records 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $7 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
75% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 25%. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Riverside Public Library offered 18 programs last year, 2.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Riverside Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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 Riverside Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Riverside Township is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #451 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Riverside Public Library spends $7 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$95K) 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Riverside Township
1.1 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.9%
4.9% of Riverside 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 Riverside Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Riverside Public Library serves 8,003 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,270 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
18 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Riverside Public Library, 10 Zurbrugg Way, Riverside.
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 Riverside 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 $1.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Riverside Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $53K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $74K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $53K 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 414 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delanco Township | Delanco Public Libary fine-free | 2.6 | 31 | D− |
| Riverside Township | Riverside Public Library fine-free | 0.5 | 20 | D− |
| Delran Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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 Riverside Township
Does Riverside Township have a public library?
Yes. Riverside Public Library, 10 Zurbrugg Way, serves Riverside Township’s 8,003 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Riverside 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 Riverside Township’s library?
It logged 0.3 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Riverside Township’s civic life grade?
D− Riverside Township is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #451 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 Riverside 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.