Photo: Public domain · Public domainBremen’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bremen Public Library serves 8,937 people in and around Bremen. Last year it lent 137K books, movies and e-books and logged 50K visits.
The short version on Bremen’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Bremen Public Library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 96% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
14,000 people came to the system’s 827 programs last year: 1.5 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. It’s 18% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Bremen Public Library spends $90 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Bremen Public Library serves 8,937 people in and around Bremen, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bremen’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bremen is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #310 of 571 in Indiana. Bremen is graded on two of the three inputs. Bremen’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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Bremen
4.9 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Bremen’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana 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 Bremen’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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.
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.
Bremen Public Library serves 8,937 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bremen Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
137K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
24,086 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bremen Public Library, 304 North Jackson Street, Bremen.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bremen Public Library branch.
New in Bremen? 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 $2.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bremen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $803K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $803K 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 5,783 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bremen Public Library serves 8,937 people in and around Bremen, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bremen.
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 Bremen
Does Bremen have a public library?
Yes. Bremen Public Library, 304 North Jackson Street, serves 8,937 people in and around Bremen (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bremen 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 Bremen’s library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 15.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bremen’s civic life grade?
B− Bremen is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on civic life, #310 of 571 in Indiana. 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 Bremen.
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.