Helton-Mayo Farm · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainShawswick Township’s library runs 32 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Bedford Public Library serves 33,833 people in and around Shawswick Township. Last year it lent 261K books, movies and e-books and logged 73K visits.
What Shawswick Township’s library is like
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 52% of loans, more per resident than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 48%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
80% of the 1,091 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.3 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Bedford Public Library serves 33,833 people in and around Shawswick Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Shawswick Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Shawswick Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #325 of 571 in Indiana. Shawswick Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Shawswick Township’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
77 community nonprofits are registered in Shawswick Township
3.7 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 (29 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.8%
7.8% of Shawswick Township’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 Shawswick Township’s residents live; 2022.
52% of borrowing is digital
261K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
134,688 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bedford Public Library serves 33,833 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 84 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bedford Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 17 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
Bedford Public Library, 1323 K Street, Bedford.
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 Bedford Public Library branch.
New in Shawswick Township? 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 $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Shawswick Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 13,818 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shawswick Township | Bedford Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | B− |
| Marion Township | Mitchell Community Public Library | — | 55 | B− |
| Guthrie Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Indian Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Marshall Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Pleasant Run Township | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- System-wide. Bedford Public Library serves 33,833 people in and around Shawswick Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Shawswick Township.
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 Shawswick Township
Does Shawswick Township have a public library?
Yes. Bedford Public Library, 1323 K Street, serves 33,833 people in and around Shawswick Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bedford 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 Shawswick Township’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 7.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Shawswick Township’s civic life grade?
B− Shawswick Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #325 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 Shawswick Township.
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.