Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Bedford’s library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Bedford Free Public Library serves Bedford’s 14,161 residents. Last year it lent 240K print books and media and logged 154K visits.
What Bedford’s library is like
Bedford uses its library more than almost any town its size
Bedford Free Public Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 17 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 98% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 39 items per child in Bedford last year. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in Massachusetts for borrowing
Bedford ranks #12 of 268 Massachusetts towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 17 items per resident, more than at 99% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Bedford invests in its library
Bedford Free Public Library spends $131 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Bedford Free Public Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 72 items go out. The building ↓
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.
What’s behind Bedford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bedford is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #39 of 283 in Massachusetts. 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 →
81 community nonprofits are registered in Bedford
5.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.8%
8.8% of Bedford’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical Massachusetts 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 Bedford’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 72 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bedford Free Public Library serves 14,161 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
240K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 97K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Bedford last year.
Find it
Bedford Free Public Library, 7 Mudge Way, 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.
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 $2.57 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 $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 9,555 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bedford ranks 4th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lexington | Cary Memorial Library fine-free | 20.2 | 63 | A |
| Concord | Concord Free Public Library fine-free | 18.8 | 100 | A+ |
| Lincoln | Lincoln Public Library fine-free | 18.5 | 55 | A+ |
| Bedford | Bedford Free Public Library fine-free | 16.9 | 64 | A |
| Carlisle | Gleason Public Library fine-free | 16.7 | 52 | A+ |
| Burlington | Burlington Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 58 | C+ |
| Billerica | Billerica Public Library fine-free | 5.9 | 61 | C− |
| Pinehurst | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. Massachusetts libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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. Bedford Free Public Library, 7 Mudge Way, serves Bedford’s 14,161 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bedford Free 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 10.9 visits and lent 16.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bedford’s civic life grade?
A Bedford is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #39 of 283 in Massachusetts. 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 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.