Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Westville’s library runs 76 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Westville Public Library serves Westville’s 4,264 residents. Last year it lent 4,633 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,180 visits.
The short version on Westville’s library
Westville Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Westville Public Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $27 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Westville’s library lends 1.1 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by West Deptford Township at 2.4. Libraries next door ↓
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 Westville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Westville is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #332 of 466 in New Jersey. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Westville Public Library spends $27 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$88K) 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Westville
3.2 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.6%
7.6% of Westville’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 Westville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Westville Public Library serves 4,264 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,633 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
432 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Westville last year.
Find it
Westville Public Library, 1035 Broadway, Westville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Westville? 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 Westville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $114K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $76K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $114K 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 2,962 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Westville ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Deptford Township | West Deptford Public Library | 2.4 | 52 | C− |
| Deptford Township | James H. Johnson Memorial Library | 2.3 | 53 | C− |
| Gloucester City | Gloucester City Library | 1.9 | — | C |
| Westville | Westville Public Library | 1.1 | 30 | C− |
| Bellmawr | Bellmawr Branch Library fine-free | — | 58 | C |
| Philadelphia | Free Library of Philadelphia fine-free | — | 49 | D |
| Brooklawn | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Westville
Does Westville have a public library?
Yes. Westville Public Library, 1035 Broadway, serves Westville’s 4,264 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Westville Public 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 Westville’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Westville’s civic life grade?
C− Westville is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #332 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 Westville.
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.