Photo: R. Merritt Lacey · Public domainRochelle Park Township’s library runs 81 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Rochelle Park Public Library serves Rochelle Park Township’s 5,814 residents. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,377 visits.
What stands out about Rochelle Park Township’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Rochelle Park Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rochelle Park Township is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns, #323 of 466 in New Jersey. Rochelle Park Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($83K–$138K) 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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Rochelle Park Township
4.9 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of Rochelle Park 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 Rochelle Park Township’s residents live; 2022.
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 Rochelle Park Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rochelle Park Public Library serves 5,814 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
4,568 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Rochelle Park Public Library, 151 W. Passaic St., Rochelle Park.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rochelle Park Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rochelle Park Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $373K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $295K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $373K 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 1,876 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Rochelle Park Township ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paramus | Paramus Public Library fine-free | 19.1 | 68 | A− |
| Fair Lawn | Maurice M. Pine Free Public Library fine-free | 11.3 | 63 | B− |
| Maywood | Maywood Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 48 | C+ |
| Saddle Brook Township | Saddle Brook Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 4.8 | 59 | D |
| Rochelle Park Township | Rochelle Park Public Library | 3.0 | 49 | C |
| Lodi | Lodi Memorial Library | 2.7 | 52 | 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.
- 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 Rochelle Park Township
Does Rochelle Park Township have a public library?
Yes. Rochelle Park Public Library, 151 W. Passaic St., serves Rochelle Park Township’s 5,814 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rochelle Park 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 Rochelle Park Township’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Rochelle Park Township’s civic life grade?
C Rochelle Park Township is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns on civic life, #323 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 Rochelle Park 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.