Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Bedford’s library runs 57 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Trimble County Public Library serves 8,607 people in and around Bedford. Last year it lent 47K books, movies and e-books and logged 26K visits.
What Bedford’s library is like
Programs draw a crowd
17,000 people came to the system’s 488 programs last year: 2 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Trimble County Public Library spends $83 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) 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; Trimble County Public Library serves 8,607 people in and around Bedford, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bedford’s civic life grade
Bedford isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
About 5 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Trimble County Public Library serves 8,607 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Trimble County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
47K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,565 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Trimble County Public Library, 35 Equity Drive, 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 Trimble County Public Library branch.
New in Bedford? 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 $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bedford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $719K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $925K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $719K 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 5,860 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Trimble County Public Library serves 8,607 people in and around Bedford, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bedford.
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 Bedford
Does Bedford have a public library?
Yes. Trimble County Public Library, 35 Equity Drive, serves 8,607 people in and around Bedford (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Trimble County 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 Bedford’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 5.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bedford’s civic life grade?
Bedford isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Bedford.
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.