Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Waterford Township’s library lends 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Waterford Township Public Library serves Waterford Township’s 10,421 residents. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
What stands out about Waterford Township’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Waterford Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Waterford Township is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #234 of 466 in New Jersey. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
38 community nonprofits are registered in Waterford Township
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 (10 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.
8.6%
8.6% of Waterford 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 Waterford Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Waterford Township Public Library serves 10,421 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
2,094 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Waterford Township last year.
Find it
Waterford Twsp. Pub Lib., 386 White Horse Pike, Atco.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Waterford Township? 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 Waterford Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $338K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $293K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $338K 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 3,875 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Waterford Township ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin | Marie Fleche Memorial Library fine-free | 2.0 | 47 | B |
| Waterford Township | Waterford Twsp. Pub Lib. fine-free | 1.7 | 51 | C+ |
| Atco | Waterford Twsp. Pub Lib. fine-free | 1.7 | 51 | — graded as part of its town |
| Medford Township | Pinelands Branch Library fine-free | — | 53 | A |
| Evesham Township | Evesham Branch Library fine-free | — | 56 | B− |
| Winslow Township | South County Regional Branch Library fine-free | — | 58 | D |
| Shamong Township | 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.
- 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 Waterford Township
Does Waterford Township have a public library?
Yes. Waterford Township Public Library, 386 White Horse Pike, serves Waterford Township’s 10,421 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Waterford Township 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 Waterford Township’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Waterford Township’s civic life grade?
C+ Waterford Township is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #234 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 Waterford 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.