Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Morristown’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Morristown Public Library serves 398 people in and around Morristown. Last year it lent 4,357 print books and media and logged 4,911 visits.
The short version on Morristown’s library
More library cards than residents
843 cards for 398 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 ↓
Morristown uses its library more than almost any town its size
Morristown Public Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Morristown Public Library ran 101 programs last year, about 2 a week. That’s 254 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 1,419 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Morristown Public Library serves 398 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 31 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
33% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 66%. 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 Morristown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Morristown is ahead of 19% of U.S. towns. Morristown is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Morristown’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$83K) 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Morristown
3.6 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.5%
4.5% of Morristown’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Morristown’s residents live; 2022.
101 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Morristown Public Library serves 398 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.
Books and media off the shelf
4,357 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 7,655 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Morristown Public Library, 200 Main Street, Morristown.
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 Morristown? 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 $2.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Morristown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $106K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $315K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $106K 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 843 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Morristown borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morristown | Morristown Public Library fine-free | 10.9 | 31 | C− |
| Oswegatchie | Heuvelton Free Library fine-free | 7.6 | 31 | D |
| Hammond | Hammond Free Library fine-free | 1.2 | 20 | C |
| Macomb | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Morristown
Does Morristown have a public library?
Yes. Morristown Public Library, 200 Main Street, serves 398 people in and around Morristown (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Morristown 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 Morristown’s library?
It logged 12.3 visits and lent 10.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Morristown’s civic life grade?
C− Morristown is ahead of 19% 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 Morristown.
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.