Photo: DanTD · CC BY-SA 4.0Bedford Hills’ library runs 47 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Bedford Hills Free Library serves 6,631 people in and around Bedford Hills. Last year it lent 37K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
What Bedford Hills’s library is like
48% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 48% of loans, more per resident than at 86% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 52%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 311 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Bedford Hills Free Library spends $88 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. 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; Bedford Hills Free Library serves 6,631 people in and around Bedford Hills, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bedford Hills’ civic life grade
Bedford Hills isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
48% of borrowing is digital
37K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17,803 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bedford Hills Free Library serves 6,631 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bedford Hills Free Library system. The library’s own count.
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
Bedford Hills Free Library, 26 Main Street, Bedford Hills.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bedford Hills Free Library branch.
New in Bedford Hills? 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 $1.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bedford Hills cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $581K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $629K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $581K 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 1,885 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bedford Hills Free Library serves 6,631 people in and around Bedford Hills, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bedford Hills.
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 Hills
Does Bedford Hills have a public library?
Yes. Bedford Hills Free Library, 26 Main Street, serves 6,631 people in and around Bedford Hills (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bedford Hills Free 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 Hills’ library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 5.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bedford Hills’ civic life grade?
Bedford Hills isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Bedford Hills.
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.