Rockaway Township Public Library and Rockaway Borough Library: Hours, Cards and Services

Rockaway Borough and Rockaway Township each run their own public library. The Rockaway Township Free Public Library has a main library on Mount Hope Road and a small Hibernia Branch, while the Rockaway Borough Public Library fills a historic house on East Main Street. They are separate libraries with separate cards and boards, but both belong to the same regional lending network, so a card from either one opens up millions of items. This guide covers addresses, hours, how to get a library card, museum passes, the Library of Things, digital services and printing at both libraries.

Hours and policies below come from each library’s official website and the Borough of Rockaway’s website. Holiday closings and special hours change during the year, so call ahead before a trip.

Rockaway Township Public Library at a glance

• Main Library: 61 Mount Hope Road, Rockaway, NJ 07866. Phone 973-627-2344.
• Hours: Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. The library is closed on Sundays between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
• Hibernia Branch: 419 Green Pond Road, Rockaway, NJ 07866. Phone 973-627-6872. Open Mondays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Wednesdays, 2 to 8 p.m.
• Email: rockawaytwplibrary@rtlibrary.org
• Website: rtlibrary.org, which links to the catalog, events calendar and online card sign-up.

The Hibernia Branch

The Hibernia Branch sits in the former Church of Hibernia, a Carpenter Gothic building put up in 1869 with money from the area’s iron mining companies. The Rockaway Township Lions Club acquired the building in 1969, and it has served as a branch of the Township library since 1970. In 2026 Rockaway Township won a $226,400 Morris County preservation grant for exterior repairs to the building. Because the branch keeps short hours, check the schedule before you go.

Rockaway Borough Public Library at a glance

• Address: 82 East Main Street, Rockaway, NJ 07866, across from Thomas Jefferson Middle School and the Borough Board of Education. The parking lot is behind the building, and a book drop out front takes returns when the library is closed.
• Phone: 973-627-5709
• Hours: Monday and Wednesday, noon to 8 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; closed Sunday.
• Email: rcblibrary@gmail.com
• Website: rblibrary.org, with a holiday closings page listing the year’s closed dates.

A library in a historic house

The Borough library’s home is itself a piece of local history. According to the library, the house was built in the early 1800s by Colonel Joseph Jackson, known as the Iron King of Morris County, for his son Stephen Joseph Jackson. Dr. George H. Foster and his wife, Marie, bought it in 1885, and in 1939 Marie Foster willed the three-story home to the Borough for use as a library and museum, which is why it is also known as the Foster Memorial Library. The library says the building was designated a National Historic Site in 1975.

Restored museum rooms inside hold furniture, textiles, photographs and artifacts from the Jackson and Foster families, and the library keeps the Edmund Drake Halsey Collection of Civil War letters. Its New Jersey Room has reference and circulating material on Rockaway Borough, Morris County and the state.

How to get a library card

Rockaway Township library card

Any resident or property taxpayer in Rockaway Township can get a full-service card at no charge. If you have never had a card in the regional network, you can start the application online through the library’s website, then visit with valid proof of Rockaway Township residency to finish. If you already have a card from another library in the network, or would rather sign up in person, just bring your proof of residency to the library.

The library accepts a current NJ driver’s license, a State of New Jersey ID card, a current utility bill or lease, a current tax statement or a current bank statement. Full-service cards are good for three years and then need to be renewed. A replacement card costs $2.

Rockaway Borough library card

The Borough library issues cards to Rockaway Borough residents over age 5 with proof of residency. Children ages 5 to 17 need a parent or legal guardian to sign their card. People who live outside Morris County but work in Rockaway Borough can get a one-year courtesy card, renewable, that works only at the Borough library. A lost card costs $2 to replace.

Using a card at the other library

Both libraries belong to Pillar Libraries, the nonprofit network long known as the Main Library Alliance, which changed its name on Oct. 5, 2026. A card from either Rockaway library carries borrowing privileges at other member libraries, so a Borough cardholder can borrow at the Township library and a Township cardholder can borrow on East Main Street, though the libraries note that some restrictions may apply. Some services, such as the Township’s museum passes, are limited to that town’s residents. Hold and renewal notices now come from email addresses ending in @pillarlibraries.org.

Borrowing, renewals and fines

Loan periods differ between the two libraries. These are the posted standard periods.

• Rockaway Township: regular books, 28 days; new books, audiobooks, music CDs and magazines, two weeks; DVDs and Blu-rays, one week; new DVDs, three days. Most items can be renewed twice, in person, by phone or through your online account, unless someone has placed a hold. Video games cannot be renewed.
• Rockaway Borough: books and audiobooks, 21 days; new books, DVDs, video games and magazines, 14 days; new DVDs, seven days; museum passes, four days. Most items renew automatically up to three times unless there is a hold.
• Fines at both libraries: 10 cents a day for most overdue items and $1 a day for DVDs and video games. At the Borough library, borrowing stops once fines go over $10.

Township library items can be dropped off at any library in Morris County and will be sent back. The exception is anything borrowed through out-of-county or out-of-state interlibrary loan, such as JerseyCat, which must go back to the library that issued your card.

Museum passes

The Rockaway Township library lends museum passes to Township resident borrowers who are 18 or older and in good standing. Passes go out for three to five days, can be reserved up to three months ahead in person or by phone, and are limited to one per household at a time. The 2026 list includes the Morris Museum, the Intrepid Museum, the Museum of the American Revolution, Battleship New Jersey, the Please Touch Museum, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, Storm King Art Center and the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center. The list changes, so call 973-627-2344 to check availability and reserve.

The Borough library also circulates museum passes on a four-day loan. Call 973-627-5709 to ask what is available.

Library of Things

Both libraries lend more than books. The Township library’s Library of Things lets adult cardholders borrow hands-on items for up to two weeks, with no renewals. The current list includes a telescope, a microscope, adult and children’s metal detectors, a pickleball kit, an acoustic guitar, a bird watching kit, a gardening set, a thermal camera, a vehicle code reader, a video projector and walkie-talkies. Borrowers sign an agreement first, and you can check availability or reserve by calling 973-627-2344.

The Borough library lends Library of Things items for 14 days and also loans iPads. Call 973-627-5709 or email rcblibrary@gmail.com to reserve an iPad.

Ebooks, streaming and online resources

A library card from either town works for ebooks and audiobooks through Libby and for hoopla. Other online services include:

• Kanopy film streaming for Rockaway Township cardholders, at rtlibrary.kanopy.com.
• Mango Languages, with lessons in more than 70 languages, at both libraries.
• HeritageQuest Online for genealogy research, at both libraries.
• NoveList reading recommendations, Consumer Reports and newspaper databases through the Township library.
• TumbleMath, LOTE4KIDS and Library Chef through the Borough library.

Computers, Wi-Fi, printing and fax

Both libraries offer public computers and free Wi-Fi, and Township library computers are free to use. At the Township library, black and white copies and prints cost 20 cents a page and color costs 50 cents a page, and you can print wirelessly from a phone or laptop. A scanning station is free, and the library has a fax machine at 973-627-7658, with sending fees that depend on the destination.

The Borough library’s computers include word processing software and printing, and one computer is set aside in the children’s area. The library’s director offers tech help sessions by registration.

Programs and events

The Township library posts its events on an online calendar linked from its homepage. Recent offerings include live virtual author talks and adult summer reading. The Borough library hosts a monthly Book Discussion Group and a Knit and Crochet Circle, along with programs such as free mahjong lessons. Both libraries take program registration online.

For more ideas around town, see our guide to things to do in Rockaway Borough and Rockaway Township. Both libraries are also listed by Morris County as warming and cooling sites during extreme weather; our power outage guide explains how those sites work.

Donations, Friends groups and board meetings

The Township library generally does not accept donated books, DVDs or magazines and instead encourages monetary gifts and membership in the Friends of the Rockaway Township Library, which collects books once a year for its annual book sale. For the Borough library, call 973-627-5709 before bringing donations. Its Friends group runs a Book Sale Room on the library’s lower level that is open year-round, along with an annual book sale.

Both library boards meet in public. The Rockaway Township Free Public Library Board of Trustees usually meets monthly at 6:30 p.m. in the library’s lower-level meeting room, with dates posted on rtlibrary.org. The Rockaway Borough Library Board of Trustees meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the library, according to the Borough of Rockaway.

Need more? The Morris County Library

For deeper research, the Borough library points patrons to the Reference Department of the Morris County Library, 30 East Hanover Avenue in Whippany, 973-285-6930. It is open Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is closed Sunday.

Frequently asked questions

What are the Rockaway Township Public Library hours?

The main library at 61 Mount Hope Road is open Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. It is closed on Sundays between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The Hibernia Branch is open Mondays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Wednesdays, 2 to 8 p.m.

Where is the Rockaway Borough library?

The Rockaway Borough Public Library is at 82 East Main Street, across from Thomas Jefferson Middle School, with parking behind the building. The phone number is 973-627-5709.

How do I get a Rockaway Township library card?

Rockaway Township residents and property taxpayers get a free card. Start online at rtlibrary.org if you have never had a card in the network, then visit the library with proof of Township residency, such as an NJ driver’s license, a utility bill or lease, a tax statement or a bank statement.

Can Rockaway Borough residents use the Rockaway Township library?

Yes. Both libraries belong to Pillar Libraries, formerly the Main Library Alliance, and a card from either library carries borrowing privileges at other member libraries. Some services, like the Township library’s museum passes, are limited to Township residents.

Does the Rockaway Township library have museum passes?

Yes. Township resident cardholders 18 and older can reserve museum passes up to three months ahead by calling 973-627-2344. Passes go out for three to five days, one per household at a time.

Top photo: The Rockaway Borough Public Library, the Foster Memorial Building, at 82 East Main Street in Rockaway Borough. Photo: Sue VanderSchans / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.