Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Woodbridge Township’s library runs 19 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Woodbridge Public Library serves Woodbridge Township’s 103,639 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 375K books, movies and e-books and logged 245K visits.
Woodbridge Township’s library, in brief
Open about 68 hours a week
The main library is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out. The buildings ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 63% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 57% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Three places to borrow in Woodbridge Township
Woodbridge Public Library runs three locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Woodbridge Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Woodbridge Township is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #387 of 466 in New Jersey. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #270. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($82K–$136K) 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 →
256 community nonprofits are registered in Woodbridge Township
2.5 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 (48 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 19 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.7%
4.7% of Woodbridge 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 Woodbridge Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 24 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 Woodbridge Township last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Woodbridge Public Library serves 103,639 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
375K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 362K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
64,647 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 places to borrow in Woodbridge Township
Woodbridge Public Library, George Frederick Plaza, Woodbridge.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Woodbridge Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Woodbridge Township
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Woodbridge Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.3M 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 23,766 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Woodbridge Township ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edison Township | Edison Twsp. Free Public Lib fine-free | 5.6 | 68 | C− |
| Woodbridge Township | Woodbridge Public Library | 3.6 | 68 | D |
| Sayreville | Sayreville Free Public Library | 2.6 | 65 | D |
| Rahway | Rahway Public Library fine-free | 2.3 | 50 | C− |
| Carteret | Carteret Public Library | 1.2 | 64 | D |
| Perth Amboy | Perth Amboy Free Pub. Lib. | — | — | D− |
| Avenel | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Port Reading | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Sewaren | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Colonia | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Hopelawn | 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 Woodbridge Township
Does Woodbridge Township have a public library?
Yes. Woodbridge Public Library, George Frederick Plaza, serves Woodbridge Township’s 103,639 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Woodbridge 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 Woodbridge Township’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Woodbridge Township’s civic life grade?
D Woodbridge Township is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #387 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 Woodbridge 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.