Photo: Forevercry · CC BY-SA 4.0Bridgman’s library runs 101 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Bridgman Public Library serves 6,338 people in and around Bridgman. Last year it lent 60K books, movies and e-books and logged 44K visits.
Bridgman’s library, in brief
48% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 48% of loans, more per resident than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 52%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Bridgman Public Library ran 641 programs last year, about 12 a week. That’s 101 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 9,572 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Bridgman Public Library spends $86 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it 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; Bridgman Public Library serves 6,338 people in and around Bridgman, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bridgman’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bridgman is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. Bridgman is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Bridgman’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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Bridgman
3.6 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.1%
9.1% of Bridgman’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 Bridgman’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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.
Bridgman Public Library serves 6,338 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bridgman Public Library system. The library’s own count.
48% of borrowing is digital
60K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
28,602 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bridgman Public Library, 4460 Lake Street, Bridgman.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bridgman Public Library branch.
New in Bridgman? 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 $1.90 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bridgman cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $547K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $547K 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 2,546 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgman | Bridgman Public Library | — | 53 | B |
| Lake Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. Bridgman Public Library serves 6,338 people in and around Bridgman, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bridgman.
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 Bridgman
Does Bridgman have a public library?
Yes. Bridgman Public Library, 4460 Lake Street, serves 6,338 people in and around Bridgman (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bridgman 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 Bridgman’s library?
It logged 6.9 visits and lent 9.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bridgman’s civic life grade?
B Bridgman is ahead of 62% 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 Bridgman.
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.