Photo: AirportExpert · CC BY-SA 4.0Bridgewater’s library logs 14 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Burnham Library serves Bridgewater’s 1,646 residents. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
What Bridgewater’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
51% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 48%. What your card is worth ↓
People come to Burnham Library a lot
Burnham Library logs 14 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 9 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 34 items per child in Bridgewater last year. Kids & programs ↓
Bridgewater invests in its library
Burnham Library spends $148 per resident a year, about three times the typical $54 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Burnham Library holds 27,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Bridgewater’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bridgewater is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Bridgewater
12.0 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.7%
10.7% of Bridgewater’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 Bridgewater’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Burnham Library serves 1,646 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
3,643 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 Bridgewater last year.
Find it
Burnham Library, 62 Main Street South, Bridgewater.
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 Bridgewater? 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 $1.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bridgewater cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $244K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $318K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $244K 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 687 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bridgewater ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southbury | Southbury Public Library | 12.8 | 59 | B+ |
| Bridgewater | Burnham Library fine-free | 11.3 | 32 | A+ |
| Roxbury | Minor Memorial Library fine-free | 7.4 | 30 | A+ |
| Brookfield | Brookfield Library fine-free | 6.9 | 53 | C+ |
| Newtown | Cyrenius H. Booth Library fine-free | 5.5 | 54 | A |
| New Milford | New Milford Public Library | 4.7 | 45 | C+ |
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.
- 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.
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 Bridgewater
Does Bridgewater have a public library?
Yes. Burnham Library, 62 Main Street South, serves Bridgewater’s 1,646 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Burnham 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 Bridgewater’s library?
It logged 13.9 visits and lent 11.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bridgewater’s civic life grade?
A+ Bridgewater is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Bridgewater.
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.