Photo: Lithium6ion · Public domainWayne Township’s library runs 35 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Wayne Public Library serves Wayne Township’s 54,838 residents. Last year it lent 356K books, movies and e-books and logged 197K visits.
The short version on Wayne Township’s library
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Wayne Public Library ran 1,945 programs last year, about 37 a week. That’s 35 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 67 hours a week
Wayne Public Library is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 103 items go out. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
66% of the 1,945 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 572 were for children. 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 Wayne Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Wayne Township is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #116 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
200 community nonprofits are registered in Wayne Township
3.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (33 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 17 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
12.7%
12.7% of Wayne 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 Wayne Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 11 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 Wayne Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Wayne Public Library serves 54,838 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 103 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
356K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 170K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
57,382 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Wayne Public Library, 461 Valley Road, Wayne.
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 Wayne 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 $1.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wayne Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.8M 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 17,750 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Wayne Township ranks 3rd of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pequannock Township | Pequannock Twsp. Pub. Lib. | 7.9 | 53 | A |
| Pompton Plains | Pequannock Twsp. Pub. Lib. | 7.9 | 53 | — graded as part of its town |
| Wayne Township | Wayne Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 67 | B+ |
| Little Falls Township | Little Falls Public Library fine-free | 5.5 | 52 | C− |
| Lincoln Park | Lincoln Park Public Library | 4.7 | 52 | C− |
| Pompton Lakes | Emanuel Einstein Pub. Lib. | 4.2 | 53 | C+ |
| Fairfield Township | Fairfield Free Public Library | 4.2 | 60 | B− |
| Totowa | Dwight D. Eisenhower Library fine-free | 2.9 | 46 | C |
| Haledon | Haledon Public Library | — | — | D |
| Singac | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Pines Lake | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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 Wayne Township
Does Wayne Township have a public library?
Yes. Wayne Public Library, 461 Valley Road, serves Wayne Township’s 54,838 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wayne 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 Wayne Township’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Wayne Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Wayne Township is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #116 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 Wayne 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.