Photo: User:Dincher · CC BY-SA 3.0Bladenboro’s library is a branch of Bladen County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 89% of systems its size
Bladenboro’s library is the Bridger Memorial Library, a branch of Bladen County Public Library, which serves 29,153 people and lent 36K items last year.
The short version on Bladenboro’s library
The Bladen County Public Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Bladen County Public Library system records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $23 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 263 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 74% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 76% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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; Bladenboro’s library is a branch of Bladen County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (29,153 people), not just the Bladenboro branch.
What’s behind Bladenboro’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bladenboro has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Bladenboro is graded on two of the three inputs. Bladenboro’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
Bladen County Public Library spends $23 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$65K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Bladenboro
1.0 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.8%
2.8% of Bladenboro’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.2% in the typical North Carolina 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 Bladenboro’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bladen County Public Library serves 29,153 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bladen County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
36K 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.
About 4 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.
Find it
Bridger Memorial Library, 313 S Main St., Bladenboro.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bladen County Public Library branch.
New in Bladenboro? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bladenboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $677K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $589K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $677K 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 10,246 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bridger Memorial Library is one branch of Bladen County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 29,153 people it serves.
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 Bladenboro
Does Bladenboro have a public library?
Yes: Bridger Memorial Library, 313 S Main St., is a branch of Bladen County Public Library, which serves 29,153 people. The branch is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bladen County 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 Bladenboro’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bladenboro’s civic life grade?
D− Bladenboro has fewer community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. 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 Bladenboro.
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.