Photo: Igoldste · CC BY-SA 2.5Bethlehem’s library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Bethlehem Public Library serves 28,631 people in and around Bethlehem. Last year it lent 655K books, movies and e-books and logged 222K visits.
The short version on Bethlehem’s library
One of the busiest library systems its size
Bethlehem Public Library logs 7.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 17 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 6.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. It’s 28% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 41% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
39,000 people came to the system’s 907 programs last year: 1.4 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Bethlehem Public Library spends $159 per resident a year, about four times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) comes from local taxes. 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; Bethlehem Public Library serves 28,631 people in and around Bethlehem, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bethlehem’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bethlehem is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #70 of 751 in New York. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
151 community nonprofits are registered in Bethlehem
4.3 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 (24 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.
12.1%
12.1% of Bethlehem’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 Bethlehem’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bethlehem Public Library serves 28,631 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 187 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bethlehem Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
655K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
182,609 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bethlehem Public Library, 451 Delaware Avenue, Delmar.
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 Bethlehem Public Library branch.
New in Bethlehem? 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 $2.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bethlehem cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.6M 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 22,027 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Greenbush | East Greenbush Community Library fine-free | 22.4 | 63 | B+ |
| Schodack | Castleton Public Library fine-free | 21.9 | 50 | B+ |
| Bethlehem | Bethlehem Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | A |
| Albany | Albany Public Library fine-free | — | 48 | A− |
| New Scotland | Voorheesville Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | A |
| Coeymans | Rcs Community Library fine-free | — | 56 | B− |
| Guilderland | Guilderland Public Library fine-free | — | 61 | B− |
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.
- System-wide. Bethlehem Public Library serves 28,631 people in and around Bethlehem, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bethlehem.
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 Bethlehem
Does Bethlehem have a public library?
Yes. Bethlehem Public Library, 451 Delaware Avenue, serves 28,631 people in and around Bethlehem (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bethlehem 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 Bethlehem’s library?
It logged 7.7 visits and lent 22.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bethlehem’s civic life grade?
A Bethlehem is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #70 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 Bethlehem.
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.