Photo: Freeholdman12 · CC BY 4.0Westfield’s library lends 7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Westfield Memorial Library serves Westfield’s 31,032 residents. Last year it lent 294K books, movies and e-books and logged 97K visits.
Westfield’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 65% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 16 items per child in Westfield last year. Kids & programs ↓
Westfield out-borrows every town next door
At 9.5 loans per resident, Westfield leads the six towns here. The closest is Cranford Township, at 9.4. Libraries next door ↓
Programs draw a crowd
26,000 people came to the library’s 724 programs last year: 0.8 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Westfield invests in its library
Westfield Memorial Library spends $91 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Westfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Westfield is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #137 of 466 in New Jersey. Westfield’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
165 community nonprofits are registered in Westfield
5.3 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 (18 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.
8.5%
8.5% of Westfield’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 Westfield’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 Westfield last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Westfield Memorial Library serves 31,032 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 91 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
294K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 137K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
75,259 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Westfield Memorial Library, 550 E. Broad Street, Westfield.
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 Westfield? 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 $1.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Westfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.8M 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 14,596 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Westfield borrows the most per resident of the 6 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westfield | Westfield Memorial Library fine-free | 9.5 | 62 | B+ |
| Cranford Township | Cranford Public Library fine-free | 9.4 | 58 | A− |
| Scotch Plains Township | Scotch Plains Public Library fine-free | 8.4 | 57 | B |
| Mountainside | Mountainside Free Public Library fine-free | 6.2 | 52 | A |
| Springfield Township | Springfield Free Pub. Lib. | 6.1 | 56 | B+ |
| Garwood | Garwood Free Public Library | 2.9 | 51 | 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 Westfield
Does Westfield have a public library?
Yes. Westfield Memorial Library, 550 E. Broad Street, serves Westfield’s 31,032 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Westfield Memorial 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 Westfield’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 9.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Westfield’s civic life grade?
B+ Westfield is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #137 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 Westfield.
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.