Capt. Oliver Filley House · Photo: Sphilbrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Bloomfield’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Bloomfield Public Library serves Bloomfield’s 21,884 residents. Last year it lent 76K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
The short version on Bloomfield’s library
Every town next door borrows more
Bloomfield’s library lends 3.5 items per resident. Each of the five neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Simsbury at 19. Libraries next door ↓
Well funded, but lightly used
Bloomfield Public Library spends $99 per resident, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 89% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
57% of the 583 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 169 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Bloomfield Public Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, below 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.3 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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.
What’s behind Bloomfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bloomfield is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #131 of 155 in Connecticut. Bloomfield’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($74K–$123K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
127 community nonprofits are registered in Bloomfield
5.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (46 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.5%
5.5% of Bloomfield’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.5% in the typical Connecticut 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 Bloomfield’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bloomfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M 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 5,165 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bloomfield Public Library serves 21,884 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 41 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
76K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 87K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
24,772 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, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Bloomfield last year.
Find it
Bloomfield Public Library, 1 Tunxis Ave., Bloomfield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bloomfield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Bloomfield ranks 6th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simsbury | Simsbury Public Library fine-free | 19.0 | 63 | A |
| Avon | Avon Free Public Library fine-free | 15.6 | 57 | A− |
| West Hartford | West Hartford Public Library fine-free | 11.9 | 50 | B+ |
| Windsor | Windsor Public Library | 6.8 | 58 | B |
| East Granby | East Granby Public Library fine-free | 6.0 | 46 | A |
| Bloomfield | Bloomfield Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 40 | C |
| Blue Hills | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Hartford | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Tariffville | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Bloomfield Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Bloomfield
Does Bloomfield have a public library?
Yes. Bloomfield Public Library, 1 Tunxis Ave., serves Bloomfield’s 21,884 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bloomfield Public Library 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 Bloomfield’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 3.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bloomfield’s civic life grade?
C Bloomfield is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #131 of 155 in Connecticut. 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 Bloomfield.
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.