Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0Bayfield’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Pine River Public Library District/Bayfield serves 8,882 people in and around Bayfield. Last year it lent 74K books, movies and e-books and logged 97K visits.
Bayfield’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
13,009 cards for 8,882 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
49% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 49% of loans, more per resident than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 51%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Pine River Public Library District/Bayfield logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4.3 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Pine River Public Library District/Bayfield ran 885 programs last year, about 17 a week. That’s 100 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 12,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
69% of the 885 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 156 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; Pine River Public Library District/Bayfield serves 8,882 people in and around Bayfield, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bayfield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bayfield is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #57 of 104 in Colorado. Bayfield is graded on two of the three inputs. Bayfield’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Bayfield
4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of Bayfield’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.8% in the typical Colorado 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 Bayfield’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pine River Public Library District/Bayfield system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Pine River Public Library District/Bayfield serves 8,882 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
49% of borrowing is digital
74K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
36,141 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
Find it
Pine River Public Library District/Bayfield, 395 Bayfield Center Drive, Bayfield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pine River Public Library District/Bayfield branch.
New in Bayfield? The Handbook →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 $1.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bayfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $889K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $889K 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 13,009 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Pine River Public Library District/Bayfield serves 8,882 people in and around Bayfield, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bayfield.
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 Bayfield
Does Bayfield have a public library?
Yes. Pine River Public Library District/Bayfield, 395 Bayfield Center Drive, serves 8,882 people in and around Bayfield (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pine River Public Library District/Bayfield fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bayfield’s library?
It logged 11.0 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bayfield’s civic life grade?
B− Bayfield is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #57 of 104 in Colorado. 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 Bayfield.
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.