Laurence Harbor Branch
Laurence Harbor Branch serves 66,876 people in and around Laurence Harbor. Last year it lent 209K books, movies and e-books and logged 221K visits.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Strongest at program attendance
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 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.
library systems for visits per resident.
Laurence Harbor Branch serves 66,876 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
209K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 175K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
16,780 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Laurence Harbor cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.3M 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 15,137 cardholders ÷ 12.
Find it
Laurence Harbor Branch, 277 Shoreland Circle, Laurence.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Laurence Harbor? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Laurence Harbor borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurence Harbor | Laurence Harbor Branch | 3.1 | — |
| Old Bridge | Old Bridge Public Library | 3.1 | 99 |
| Sayreville | Sayreville Free Public Library | 2.6 | 65 |
| Aberdeen | None of its own | — | — |
| Cliffwood Beach | None of its own | — | — |
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.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Laurence Harbor.
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.