Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Bessemer’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Bessemer Public Library serves 5,154 people in and around Bessemer. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,006 visits.
The short version on Bessemer’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Bessemer Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on seven. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 65 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 9 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Bessemer Public Library serves 5,154 people in and around Bessemer, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bessemer’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bessemer is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. Bessemer is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Bessemer’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Bessemer
12.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.9%
9.9% of Bessemer’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 12.4% in the typical Michigan 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 Bessemer’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bessemer Public Library serves 5,154 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, for the whole Bessemer Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,339 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
Bessemer Public Library, 411 South Sophie Street, Bessemer.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bessemer Public Library branch.
New in Bessemer? 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 $1.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bessemer cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $116K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $222K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $116K 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 944 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bessemer Public Library serves 5,154 people in and around Bessemer, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bessemer.
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 Bessemer
Does Bessemer have a public library?
Yes. Bessemer Public Library, 411 South Sophie Street, serves 5,154 people in and around Bessemer (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bessemer Public 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 Bessemer’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bessemer’s civic life grade?
A+ Bessemer is ahead of 96% 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 Bessemer.
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.