librarysystems

Ocean County Library

Toms River, New JerseyOcean CountyCounty libraryLarge suburbFiscal year January 2024 to December 2024

Ocean County Library is a county public library system based in Toms River (Ocean County), New Jersey, serving a legal service area of 636,202 residents through 21 library buildings. Among the 262 profiled systems in New Jersey, it leads on population served, total visits, physical checkouts and operating spending.

Among profiled systems serving 500,000 to 999,999 residents, it ranks third for program attendance per resident and sixth for local government's share of operating revenue, but ranks seventh-lowest for the electronic share of checkouts. Against the median system of its size class, it records 53% more operating spending per resident and 47% more paid staff per resident.

Compare with similar-size systemsSystems serving 500,000 to 999,999

Ocean County against the 61 systems of its size class

size-class median (50th percentile) · spine height = percentile within the class2.42Visitsper resident60th percentile5.05Checkoutsper resident60th percentile$73.32Spendingper resident76th percentile1.46Print volumesper resident63rd percentile527Program visitsper 1,000 people96th percentile9.0Computersper 10,000 people76th percentile54.7Open hoursper outlet a week71st percentile6.0Staff (FTE)per 10,000 people78th percentile
Gold tick: size-class medianVisits per resident2.4260th pct.Checkouts per resident5.0560th pct.Spending per resident$73.3276th pct.Print volumes per resident1.4663rd pct.Program visits per 1,000 people52796th pct.Computers per 10,000 people9.076th pct.Open hours per outlet a week54.771st pct.Staff (FTE) per 10,000 people6.078th pct.

How the measures and percentiles are calculated

Ocean County, building by building

The 21 buildings cover 287,998 square feet in total, 0.45 square feet per resident against a median of 0.45 for the size class. The largest building is Ocean County Library at 100,000 square feet; the smallest is Bay Head Reading Center at 300. The longest hours, 68 a week, are shared by two buildings.

BuildingTypeTownHours a weekFloor area, sq ft
Ocean County LibraryCentral libraryToms River68100,000
Barnegat Branch LibraryBranchBarnegat6011,230
Bay Head Reading CenterBranchBay Head35300
Beachwood Branch LibraryBranchBeachwood43906
Berkeley Branch LibraryBranchBayville6416,240
Brick Branch LibraryBranchBrick6418,691
Island Heights Branch LibraryBranchIsland Heights431,314
Jackson Branch LibraryBranchJackson6426,000
Lacey Branch LibraryBranchForked River649,942
Lakewood Public LibraryBranchLakewood6818,000
Little Egg Harbor LibraryBranchLittle Egg Harbor6011,500
Long Beach Island Branch LibraryBranchSurf City567,036
Manchester BranchBranchLakehurst6414,320
Plumsted LibraryBranchNew Egypt436,000
Point Pleasant Beach Branch LibraryBranchPt Pleasant Beach434,132
Point Pleasant Branch LibraryBranchPoint Pleasant609,845
Stafford Branch LibraryBranchManahawkin6413,376
Tuckerton Branch LibraryBranchTuckerton433,520
Upper Shores LibraryBranchLavallette566,930
Waretown Branch LibraryBranchWaretown434,566
Whiting Reading CenterBranchWhiting434,150

Ocean County in numbers, FY 2024

Visits
1,541,007
Physical checkouts
3,215,291
…of children's materials
1,610,266
Electronic checkouts
890,642
…of e-books
347,200
…of e-audio
439,179
Registered users
199,653
Program sessions
14,768
Program attendance
335,495
Print volumes
929,792
Audio items (physical)
58,521
Video items (physical)
108,061
Public computers
575
Public service hours, all outlets
59,696
Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
383.8
Operating spending
$46.6 million
…on books and other materials
$4.6 million
Overdue fines on print items
not charged

Where Ocean County gets its operating money

Operating revenue came to $46.1 million, or $72.38 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 262 profiled systems in New Jersey. No federal operating revenue was reported.

This system99%All profiled systems in New Jersey96%
This system99%All profiled systems in New Jersey96%
  • Local government
  • State
  • Federal
  • Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)

Ocean County since FY 2019

Visits were 25% below the FY 2019 count of 2.1 million (size-class median: −30%). Physical checkouts moved 25% down over the same span.

FY 2019 = 10060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
FY 2019 = 10060708090100110FY 2019FY 2023FY 2024
  • Visits
  • Physical checkouts

Who comes to Ocean County programs

Programs for a general audience drew 34% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 23 people each.

Children 0–1184,396Young adults 12–1843,672Adults 19+92,623General interest114,804
Children 0–1184,396Young adults 12–1843,672Adults 19+92,623General interest114,804

County libraries of similar size in other states

Of these six systems, four record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Cuyahoga County Public Library in Ohio.

SystemBased inResidentsVisits per residentCheckouts per residentSpending per resident
Tulsa City-County Library SystemTulsa, OK682,8682.728.14$48.73
Brevard County Library SystemCocoa, FL653,5482.435.06$31.44
Pasco County Public Library CooperativeHudson, FL634,7680.672.02$17.50
Cuyahoga County Public LibraryParma, OH626,2886.2611.75$119.50
Volusia County Public LibraryDaytona Beach, FL592,8522.093.00$36.71
Anne Arundel County Public LibraryAnnapolis, MD590,3362.696.31$56.80

Nearest in size within New Jersey

All profiled systems in New Jersey