Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0Stanhope’s library is a branch of Sussex County Library, which lends more per resident than 67% of systems its size
Stanhope’s library is the E. Louis Childs Memorial Library, a branch of Sussex County Library, which serves 124,621 people and lent 713K items last year.
What stands out about E. Louis Childs Memorial Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Stanhope’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Stanhope is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #304 of 466 in New Jersey. Stanhope is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Stanhope’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($104K–$174K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Stanhope
3.3 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Stanhope’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 Stanhope’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Sussex County Library serves 124,621 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sussex County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
713K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
131,110 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 19 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
E. Louis Childs Memorial Library, 21 Sparta Road, Stanhope.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sussex County Library branch.
New in Stanhope? 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 $1.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stanhope cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.8M 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 48,932 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roxbury Township | Roxbury Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 57 | B |
| Mount Olive Township | Mount Olive Public Library | 5.7 | 58 | C+ |
| Stanhope | E. Louis Childs Memorial Library fine-free | — | 54 | C |
| Netcong | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Byram Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Byram Center | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Port Morris | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hopatcong | 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.
- System-wide. E. Louis Childs Memorial Library is one branch of Sussex County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 124,621 people it serves.
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 Stanhope
Does Stanhope have a public library?
Yes: E. Louis Childs Memorial Library, 21 Sparta Road, is a branch of Sussex County Library, which serves 124,621 people. The branch is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sussex County 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 Stanhope’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Stanhope’s civic life grade?
C Stanhope is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #304 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 Stanhope.
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.