Photo: Pvjoeb joe b · CC BY-SA 3.0Totowa’s library runs 128 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Dwight D. Eisenhower Library serves Totowa’s 11,065 residents. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 51K visits.
What Totowa’s library is like
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Dwight D. Eisenhower Library ran 1,414 programs last year, about 27 a week. That’s 128 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 16,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 73% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 27%. The building also logs about 9 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 96% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
67% of the 1,414 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 449 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Totowa invests in its library
Dwight D. Eisenhower Library spends $94 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) 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 Totowa’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Totowa is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #302 of 466 in New Jersey. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($85K–$142K) 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 →
31 community nonprofits are registered in Totowa
2.8 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 (4 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.
5.0%
5.0% of Totowa’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 Totowa’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 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 Totowa last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Dwight D. Eisenhower Library serves 11,065 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
8,215 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, 537 Totowa Road, Totowa Borough.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Totowa? 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 Totowa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $646K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 2,714 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Totowa ranks 4th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne Township | Wayne Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 67 | B+ |
| Preakness | Wayne Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 67 | — graded as part of its town |
| Little Falls Township | Little Falls Public Library fine-free | 5.5 | 52 | C− |
| Totowa | Dwight D. Eisenhower Library fine-free | 2.9 | 46 | C |
| Woodland Park | West Paterson Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 2.6 | 52 | C |
| Paterson | Paterson Free Public Library | 0.3 | 60 | D− |
| Haledon | Haledon Public Library | — | — | 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 Totowa
Does Totowa have a public library?
Yes. Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, 537 Totowa Road, serves Totowa’s 11,065 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dwight D. Eisenhower 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 Totowa’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Totowa’s civic life grade?
C Totowa is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #302 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 Totowa.
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.