Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 3.0Secaucus’ library runs 54 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Secaucus Free Public Library serves Secaucus’s 22,181 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 100K books, movies and e-books and logged 68K visits.
Secaucus’s library, in brief
Open about 71 hours a week
The main library is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 60% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Secaucus invests in its library
Secaucus Free Public Library spends $109 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Secaucus’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Secaucus is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #332 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Secaucus’ 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 ($105K–$175K) 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 →
67 community nonprofits are registered in Secaucus
3.1 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.0%
5.0% of Secaucus’ 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 Secaucus’ residents live; 2022.
About 11 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 Secaucus last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Secaucus Free Public Library serves 22,181 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
100K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 56K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
15,520 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Secaucus
Secaucus Free Public Library, 1379 Paterson Plank Road, Secaucus.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Secaucus? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Secaucus
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Secaucus cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 8,504 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Secaucus ranks 3rd of 7 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+ |
| East Rutherford | East Rutherford Memorial Library | 4.6 | 52 | D |
| Secaucus | Secaucus Free Public Library | 4.5 | 71 | C− |
| Lyndhurst Township | Lyndhurst Free Public Library | 3.0 | — | C− |
| Kearny | Kearny Public Library | 2.0 | 47 | D |
| Jersey City | Jersey City Public Library | 1.9 | 60 | D |
| North Bergen Township | North Bergen Public Library | 1.9 | 63 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Secaucus 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 Secaucus
Does Secaucus have a public library?
Yes. Secaucus Free Public Library, 1379 Paterson Plank Road, serves Secaucus’ 22,181 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Secaucus 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 Secaucus’ library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Secaucus’ civic life grade?
C− Secaucus is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #332 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 Secaucus.
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.