Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Rockaway Township’s library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Rockaway Township Free Public Library serves Rockaway Township’s 25,341 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 183K books, movies and e-books and logged 103K visits.
What stands out about Rockaway Township’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Rockaway Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rockaway Township is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns, #288 of 466 in New Jersey. Library visits hold the grade up; Rockaway Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($106K–$177K) 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 →
70 community nonprofits are registered in Rockaway Township
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.4%
6.4% of Rockaway 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 Rockaway Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Rockaway Township Free Public Library serves 25,341 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 47 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
183K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 76K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
49,987 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 Rockaway Township last year.
2 places to borrow in Rockaway Township
Rockaway Twsp. Pub. Lib., 61 Mount Hope Road, Rockaway.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rockaway Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Rockaway Township
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rockaway Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 16,013 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Rockaway Township ranks 3rd of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denville Township | Denville Free Public Library fine-free | 12.3 | 33 | A− |
| Randolph Township | Randolph Twsp. Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 9.1 | 64 | C |
| Rockaway Township | Rockaway Twsp. Pub. Lib. | 7.2 | 62 | C |
| West Milford Township | West Milford Twsp. Library | 5.7 | 59 | A− |
| Jefferson Township | Jefferson Twsp. Pub. Lib. | 5.4 | 72 | C |
| Rockaway | Rockaway Free Public Library | 4.0 | 44 | C |
| Wharton | Wharton Public Library | 3.1 | 41 | B |
| Dover | Dover Free Public Library | 1.2 | 52 | D |
| White Meadow Lake | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Newfoundland | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Boonton 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Rockaway Township 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 Rockaway Township
Does Rockaway Township have a public library?
Yes. Rockaway Township Free Public Library, 61 Mount Hope Road, serves Rockaway Township’s 25,341 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rockaway Township Free 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 Rockaway Township’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 7.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Rockaway Township’s civic life grade?
C Rockaway Township is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on civic life, #288 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 Rockaway 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.