Photo: Binksternet · CC BY-SA 3.0West Orange Township’s library runs 12 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
West Orange Free Public Library serves West Orange Township’s 48,843 residents. Last year it lent 234K books, movies and e-books and logged 132K visits.
What West Orange Township’s library is like
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 64% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 61% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
West Orange Free Public Library holds 678,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 West Orange Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, West Orange Township is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #238 of 466 in New Jersey. West Orange Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($97K–$162K) 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 →
202 community nonprofits are registered in West Orange Township
4.2 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 (59 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 16 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.2%
7.2% of West Orange 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 West Orange Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
West Orange Free Public Library serves 48,843 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 75 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
234K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 678K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
65,796 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 West Orange Township last year.
Find it
West Orange Free Pub. Lib., 46 Mt. Pleasant Avenue, W. Orange.
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 West Orange 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 $1.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average West Orange Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 20,011 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
West Orange Township ranks 5th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millburn Township | Millburn Free Public Library fine-free | 19.7 | 63 | A− |
| Livingston Township | Livingston Free Public Library fine-free | 15.5 | 60 | A |
| Montclair Township | Montclair Public Library fine-free | 9.4 | 52 | A |
| Verona Township | Verona Free Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 51 | A |
| West Orange Township | West Orange Free Pub. Lib. fine-free | 4.8 | 60 | C+ |
| South Orange Village Township | South Orange Public Library | 4.0 | 60 | A− |
| City of Orange Township | The Orange Public Library | 0.4 | 57 | D− |
| Essex Fells | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. West Orange Free Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Orange Township
Does West Orange Township have a public library?
Yes. West Orange Free Public Library, 46 Mt. Pleasant Avenue, serves West Orange Township’s 48,843 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is West Orange 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 West Orange Township’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is West Orange Township’s civic life grade?
C+ West Orange Township is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #238 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 Orange 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.