Photo: AllenS · Public domainMoriarty’s library lends 2.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Moriarty Community Library serves Moriarty’s 1,946 residents. Last year it lent 5,551 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,722 visits.
The short version on Moriarty’s library
More library cards than residents
2,230 cards for 1,946 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Moriarty invests in its library
Moriarty Community Library spends $116 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Moriarty’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Moriarty is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. Moriarty is graded on two of the three inputs. Library visits hold the grade up; Moriarty’s count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Moriarty
3.7 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Moriarty Community Library serves 1,946 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,551 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
1,033 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
127 programs a year
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 Moriarty last year.
Find it
Moriarty Community Library, 202 South Broadway, Moriarty.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Moriarty? 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 Moriarty cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $225K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $110K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $225K 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 2,230 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Moriarty Community 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 Moriarty
Does Moriarty have a public library?
Yes. Moriarty Community Library, 202 South Broadway, serves Moriarty’s 1,946 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Moriarty Community 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 Moriarty’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Moriarty’s civic life grade?
B− Moriarty is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Moriarty.
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.