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 4.0Washington Township’s library logs 6.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Washington Twp Public Library/Bergen serves Washington Township’s 9,285 residents. Last year it lent 79K books, movies and e-books and logged 60K visits.
Washington Township’s library, in brief
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 36% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
14,000 people came to the library’s 729 programs last year: 1.5 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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 Washington Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Washington Township is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #152 of 466 in New Jersey. Library visits hold the grade up; Washington Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
33 community nonprofits are registered in Washington Township
3.5 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Washington Township’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 Washington Township’s residents live; 2022.
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 Washington Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Washington Twp Public Library/Bergen serves 9,285 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
79K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 46K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
28,683 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Wash. Twp Pub Lib/Westwood, 144 Woodfield Road, Westwood.
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 Washington Township? 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 $1.89 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Washington Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $714K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $714K 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 4,411 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Washington Township ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paramus | Paramus Public Library fine-free | 19.1 | 68 | A− |
| Hillsdale | Hillsdale Free Public Library | 13.7 | 53 | B+ |
| Ridgewood | Ridgewood Public Library | 13.6 | 69 | A |
| Ho-Ho-Kus | Ho-Ho-Kus Public Library fine-free | 10.2 | 44 | A− |
| Westwood | Westwood Free Public Library | 9.5 | 55 | A− |
| Washington Township | Wash. Twp Pub Lib/Westwood fine-free | 8.5 | 59 | B |
| Emerson | Emerson Public Library | 6.9 | 45 | B− |
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 Washington Township
Does Washington Township have a public library?
Yes. Washington Twp Public Library/Bergen, 144 Woodfield Road, serves Washington Township’s 9,285 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Washington Twp Public Library/Bergen 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 Washington Township’s library?
It logged 6.5 visits and lent 8.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Washington Township’s civic life grade?
B Washington Township is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on civic life, #152 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 Washington Township.
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.