Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0Surf City’s library is a branch of Ocean County Library, which lends more per resident than 71% of systems its size
Surf City’s library is the Long Beach Island Branch Library, a branch of Ocean County Library, which serves 636,202 people and lent 4.1M items last year.
The short version on Surf City’s library
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
The Ocean County Library system ran 14,768 programs last year, about 284 a week. That’s 23 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 335,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
The Ocean County Library system spends $73 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. All of it 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; Surf City’s library is a branch of Ocean County Library, so they cover the whole system (636,202 people), not just the Surf City branch.
What’s behind Surf City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Surf City is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns. Surf City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Surf City’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Surf City
12.8 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Surf City’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 Surf City’s residents live; 2022.
About 64 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Ocean County Library serves 636,202 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 69 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ocean County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
4.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
890,642 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Long Beach Island Branch Library, 217 S. Central Ave., Surf City.
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 Ocean County Library branch.
New in Surf City? 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 $1.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Surf City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $47M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $64M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $47M 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 199,653 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf City | Long Beach Island Branch Library fine-free | — | 56 | A |
| Stafford Township | Stafford Branch Library fine-free | — | 64 | C+ |
| Long Beach Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Ship Bottom | None of its own | — | — | A |
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. Long Beach Island Branch Library is one branch of Ocean County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 636,202 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 Surf City
Does Surf City have a public library?
Yes: Long Beach Island Branch Library, 217 S. Central Ave., is a branch of Ocean County Library, which serves 636,202 people. The branch is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ocean 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 Surf City’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Surf City’s civic life grade?
A Surf City is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Surf City.
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.