Photo: HELVETIQ · CC BY 2.0Bristol’s library runs 23 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Bristol Area Library serves Bristol’s 2,964 residents. Last year it lent 8,949 print books and media and logged 8,846 visits.
What Bristol’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
81% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 19%. What your card is worth ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Bristol Area Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Five of the six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 68 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 42 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Bristol Area Library holds 29,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Bristol’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Bristol is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #55 of 143 in Maine. Bristol is graded on two of the three inputs. Bristol’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Bristol
6.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bristol Area Library serves 2,964 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
8,949 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
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, 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 Bristol last year.
Find it
Bristol Area Library, 619 Old County Road, Pemaquid.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
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 $1.93 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 $78K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $150K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $78K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,288 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bristol ranks 5th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monhegan plantation | Monhegan Memorial Library | 29.7 | 16 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Damariscotta | Skidompha Public Library fine-free | 11.0 | 45 | A+ |
| St. George | Jackson Memorial Library fine-free | 3.9 | 34 | A+ |
| Bremen | Bremen Public Library fine-free | 3.0 | 23 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Bristol | Bristol Area Library | 3.0 | 26 | B+ |
| South Bristol | Rutherford Library fine-free | 2.6 | 20 | B+ |
| Friendship | Friendship Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 10 | C+ |
| Newcastle | None of its own | — | — | A+ |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Bristol Area Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’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 Bristol
Does Bristol have a public library?
Yes. Bristol Area Library, 619 Old County Road, serves Bristol’s 2,964 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 26 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bristol Area Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bristol’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 3.0 print 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?
B+ Bristol is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on civic life, #55 of 143 in Maine. 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.