Lacey Branch Library
Forked River’s library is the Lacey Branch Library, a branch of Ocean County Library, which serves 636,202 people and lent 4.1M items last year.
What stands out about Lacey Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
About 64 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Forked River cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $47M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $64M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $47M 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 199,653 cardholders ÷ 12.
Find it
Lacey Branch Library, 10 E. Lacey Road, Forked River.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ocean County Library branch.
New in Forked River? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Every hour the doors are open, about 69 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ocean County Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.
Ocean County Library serves 636,202 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
4.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
890,642 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
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.
About these numbers
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
- Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
- 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.
- System-wide. Lacey Branch Library is one branch of Ocean County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 636,202 people it serves.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Forked River.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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.