Photo: Smallbones · Public domainBridgeton’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Bridgeton Free Public Library serves Bridgeton’s 27,263 residents. Last year it logged 16K visits.
What Bridgeton’s library is like
Runs on less money than most
Bridgeton Free Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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.
What’s behind Bridgeton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bridgeton is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #393 of 466 in New Jersey. Bridgeton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Bridgeton Free Public Library spends $11 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) 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 →
109 community nonprofits are registered in Bridgeton
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (40 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.7%
3.7% of Bridgeton’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 Bridgeton’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bridgeton Free Public Library serves 27,263 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at Bridgeton Free Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 4,249 items borrowed against 16K visits, so we leave the count out.
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.
2 places to borrow in Bridgeton
Bridgeton Free Public Library, 150 E. Commerce Street, Bridgeton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bridgeton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Bridgeton
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bridgeton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $295K.
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 10,445 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgeton | Bridgeton Free Public Library | — | 41 | D |
| Fairfield Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Hopewell Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Upper Deerfield Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Sunset Lake | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Gouldtown | 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.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
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 Bridgeton
Does Bridgeton have a public library?
Yes. Bridgeton Free Public Library, 150 E. Commerce Street, serves Bridgeton’s 27,263 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
How busy is Bridgeton’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bridgeton’s civic life grade?
D Bridgeton is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on civic life, #393 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 Bridgeton.
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.