Newark’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Newark Public Library serves Newark’s 1,233 residents. Last year it lent 1,437 books, movies and e-books and logged 520 visits.
The short version on Newark’s library
Newark Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Newark Public Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
More library cards than residents
1,457 cards for 1,233 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 ↓
A small-town library
Newark Public Library serves 1,233 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Newark Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
55% of the 65 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 22 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Newark’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Newark is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Newark Public Library spends $15 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($58K–$97K) 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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Newark
2.2 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.
6.6%
6.6% of Newark’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.7% in the typical Texas 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 Newark’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Newark Public Library serves 1,233 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,437 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
65 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 Newark last year.
Find it
Newark Public Library, 207 Hudson St., Newark.
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 $1.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Newark cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $18K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $27K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $18K 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 1,457 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newark | Newark Public Library | 1.2 | 20 | D |
| Pecan Acres | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Newark Public 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 Newark
Does Newark have a public library?
Yes. Newark Public Library, 207 Hudson St., serves Newark’s 1,233 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Newark Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Newark’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Newark’s civic life grade?
D Newark is ahead of 9% 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 Newark.
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.