Bill and Lois Stepping Stones (Wilson House) · Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Bedford’s library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Katonah Village Library serves 6,261 people in and around Bedford. Last year it lent 125K books, movies and e-books and logged 92K visits.
What Bedford’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Katonah Village Library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. 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 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Katonah Village Library ran 715 programs last year, about 14 a week. That’s 114 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 12,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 6.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. It’s 31% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
30% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 70%. 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; Katonah Village Library serves 6,261 people in and around Bedford, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bedford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bedford is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #173 of 751 in New York. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
91 community nonprofits are registered in Bedford
5.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.6%
6.6% of Bedford’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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.
Every hour the doors are open, about 46 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Katonah Village Library system. The library’s own count.
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.
Katonah Village Library serves 6,261 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
125K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
39,144 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.
3 places to borrow in Bedford
Katonah Village Library, 26 Bedford Road, Katonah.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Katonah Village Library branch.
New in Bedford? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Katonah Village Library branches in Bedford
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.95 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 $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 2,926 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Castle | North Castle Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 47 | B+ |
| Pound Ridge | Pound Ridge Library District fine-free | 10.4 | 40 | B− |
| Lewisboro | Lewisboro Library | 8.3 | 45 | A− |
| Mount Kisco | Mount Kisco Public Library fine-free | 7.7 | 47 | B |
| Somers | The Somers Library fine-free | 7.6 | 47 | B+ |
| Bedford | Katonah Village Library fine-free | — | 52 | B+ |
| New Castle | Chappaqua Central School District Public Library | — | 63 | A− |
| Golden's Bridge | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Katonah Village Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Katonah Village Library serves 6,261 people in and around Bedford, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bedford.
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. Katonah Village Library, 26 Bedford Road, serves 6,261 people in and around Bedford (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Katonah Village 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 14.7 visits and lent 19.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bedford’s civic life grade?
B+ Bedford is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #173 of 751 in New York. 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.