Shadow Lawn · Photo: Zeete · CC BY-SA 4.0West Long Branch’s library is a branch of Monmouth County Library, which lends more per resident than 55% of systems its size
West Long Branch’s library is the West Long Branch Pub. Lib., a branch of Monmouth County Library, which serves 425,110 people and lent 2.3M items last year.
What stands out about West Long Branch Pub. Lib.
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind West Long Branch’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, West Long Branch is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #289 of 466 in New Jersey. West Long Branch is graded on two of the three inputs. West Long Branch’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($86K–$143K) 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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in West Long Branch
4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.8%
4.8% of West Long Branch’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 West Long Branch’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Monmouth County Library serves 425,110 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 67 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Monmouth County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
828,797 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 59 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
West Long Branch Pub. Lib., 95 Poplar Avenue, W. Long Branch.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Monmouth County Library branch.
New in West Long Branch? 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 $2.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average West Long Branch cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $17M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $35M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $17M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 105,663 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Branch | Long Branch Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 50 | D |
| West Long Branch | West Long Branch Pub. Lib. | — | 49 | C |
| Oceanport | Oceanport Library | — | 25 | A− |
| Ocean Township | Ocean Township Public Library | — | 58 | B− |
| Eatontown | Eatontown Public Library | — | — | 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.
- System-wide. West Long Branch Pub. Lib. is one branch of Monmouth County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 425,110 people it serves.
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 West Long Branch
Does West Long Branch have a public library?
Yes: West Long Branch Pub. Lib., 95 Poplar Avenue, is a branch of Monmouth County Library, which serves 425,110 people. The branch is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monmouth County Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is West Long Branch’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is West Long Branch’s civic life grade?
C West Long Branch is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #289 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 West Long Branch.
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.