Photo: N-Lange.de · CC BY-SA 3.0Bergen’s library runs 44 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Byron-Bergen Public Library serves 5,422 people in and around Bergen. Last year it lent 30K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
The short version on Bergen’s library
Open only about 15 hours a week
The Bergen branch keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 76% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Byron-Bergen Public Library serves 5,422 people in and around Bergen, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bergen’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bergen is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. Bergen is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Bergen’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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Bergen
3.4 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.4%
9.4% of Bergen’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 Bergen’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Byron-Bergen Public Library serves 5,422 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Byron-Bergen Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
30K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,782 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Byron-Bergen Public Library, 13 South Lake Street, Bergen.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Byron-Bergen Public Library branch.
New in Bergen? 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 $2.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bergen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $164K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $483K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $164K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,524 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Byron-Bergen Public Library serves 5,422 people in and around Bergen, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bergen.
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 Bergen
Does Bergen have a public library?
Yes. Byron-Bergen Public Library, 13 South Lake Street, serves 5,422 people in and around Bergen (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Byron-Bergen Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bergen’s library?
It logged 2.0 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 Bergen’s civic life grade?
B Bergen is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Bergen.
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.