Photo: BaghChal · CC BY-SA 3.0Bradley Beach’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Bradley Beach Public Library serves Bradley Beach’s 4,282 residents. Last year it lent 31K books, movies and e-books and logged 48K visits.
Bradley Beach’s library, in brief
Bradley Beach ranks 2nd in New Jersey for kids’ borrowing
Out of 215 New Jersey towns with a library of their own, Bradley Beach comes 2nd for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #12 for library use. How it compares ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Bradley Beach Public Library ran 583 programs last year, about 11 a week. That’s 136 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
People come to Bradley Beach Public Library a lot
Bradley Beach Public Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Bradley Beach Free Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2013. Today’s library there has 6,050 square feet. The building ↓
Nearly everyone in Bradley Beach has a card
3,846 cards for 4,282 people, or 90%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. 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.
What’s behind Bradley Beach’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bradley Beach is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #186 of 466 in New Jersey. Library visits hold the grade up; Bradley Beach’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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Bradley Beach
2.7 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.6%
6.6% of Bradley Beach’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.2% in the typical New Jersey 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 Bradley Beach’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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 Bradley Beach last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bradley Beach Public Library serves 4,282 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
31K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
9,408 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 2013
Bradley Beach Public Library, 511 Fourth Avenue, Bradley Beach.
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 Bradley Beach? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Bradley Beach Free Public Library
Bradley Beach Free Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 24, 2013. It is significant for its education, social history and architecture at the local level.
More about the building →What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bradley Beach cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $602K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $485K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $602K 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 3,846 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bradley Beach ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avon-by-the-Sea | Avon Free Public Library | 11.4 | 39 | B+ |
| Bradley Beach | Bradley Beach Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 50 | B− |
| Neptune Township | Neptune Township Public Library | 2.1 | 46 | C− |
| Ocean Grove | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Bradley Beach
Does Bradley Beach have a public library?
Yes. Bradley Beach Public Library, 511 Fourth Avenue, serves Bradley Beach’s 4,282 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bradley Beach 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 Bradley Beach’s library?
It logged 11.2 visits and lent 7.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bradley Beach’s civic life grade?
B− Bradley Beach is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life, #186 of 466 in New Jersey. 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 Bradley Beach.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.