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 4.0Wanaque’s library logs 2.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Wanaque Borough Free Public Library serves Wanaque’s 11,317 residents. Last year it lent 50K books, movies and e-books and logged 25K visits.
What stands out about Wanaque’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Wanaque’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Wanaque is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #274 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($85K–$141K) 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 →
41 community nonprofits are registered in Wanaque
3.7 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.5%
7.5% of Wanaque’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 Wanaque’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Wanaque Borough Free Public Library serves 11,317 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
50K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
13,795 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 Wanaque last year.
Find it
Wanaque Free Public Library, 616 Ringwood Avenue, Wanaque.
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 Wanaque? 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 $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wanaque cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $503K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $825K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $503K 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 3,302 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Wanaque ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ringwood | Ringwood Public Library fine-free | 7.4 | 55 | A |
| Wanaque | Wanaque Free Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 54 | C+ |
| Pompton Lakes | Emanuel Einstein Pub. Lib. | 4.2 | 53 | C+ |
| Bloomingdale | Bloomingdale Free Public Library | 3.6 | 50 | 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 Wanaque
Does Wanaque have a public library?
Yes. Wanaque Borough Free Public Library, 616 Ringwood Avenue, serves Wanaque’s 11,317 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wanaque Borough Free Public 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 Wanaque’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Wanaque’s civic life grade?
C+ Wanaque is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #274 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 Wanaque.
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.