Solomon Fowler Mansion · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainBristol’s library lends 6.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bristol-Washington Township Public Library serves 6,892 people in and around Bristol. Last year it lent 45K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What stands out about Bristol-Washington Township Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Bristol’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bristol is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns. Bristol is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($58K–$96K) 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Bristol
2.3 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.9%
6.9% of Bristol’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 Bristol’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bristol-Washington Township Public Library serves 6,892 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bristol-Washington Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
45K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,044 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Bristol-Washington Township Public Library, 505 West Vistula Street, Bristol.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bristol-Washington Township Public Library branch.
New in Bristol? 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 $1.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bristol cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $439K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $738K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $439K 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 3,397 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bristol-Washington Township Public Library serves 6,892 people in and around Bristol, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bristol.
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 Bristol
Does Bristol have a public library?
Yes. Bristol-Washington Township Public Library, 505 West Vistula Street, serves 6,892 people in and around Bristol (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bristol-Washington Township 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 Bristol’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bristol’s civic life grade?
C− Bristol is ahead of 21% 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 Bristol.
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.