Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Bedford’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Bedford Public Library serves Bedford’s 23,824 residents. Last year it lent 368K books, movies and e-books and logged 116K visits.
What Bedford’s library is like
Bedford ranks 4th in New Hampshire for borrowing
Out of 120 New Hampshire towns with a library of their own, Bedford comes 4th for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #5 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 56% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 33 items per child in Bedford last year. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 511 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 69% of U.S. towns, #47 of 126 in New Hampshire. 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 →
105 community nonprofits are registered in Bedford
4.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of Bedford’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical New Hampshire 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.
About 7 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bedford Public Library serves 23,824 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 123 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
368K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 81K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.9 times last year, on average.
52,616 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bedford Public Library, 3 Meetinghouse Road, 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 $3.33 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 $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 10,461 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bedford ranks 2nd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amherst | Amherst Town Library fine-free | 17.2 | 58 | A |
| Bedford | Bedford Public Library fine-free | 15.4 | 58 | B+ |
| Merrimack | Merrimack Public Library fine-free | 8.1 | 57 | C |
| New Boston | Whipple Free Library fine-free | 6.3 | 34 | C− |
| Goffstown | Goffstown Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 51 | C+ |
| Manchester | Manchester City Library | 2.6 | 50 | C− |
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. Bedford Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Public Library, 3 Meetinghouse Road, serves Bedford’s 23,824 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bedford 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 4.9 visits and lent 15.4 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?
B+ Bedford is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on civic life, #47 of 126 in New Hampshire. 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.