Bridgewater Railroad Station · Photo: Agreen54 · CC BY-SA 4.0Bridgewater’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Bridgewater Free Library serves Bridgewater’s 1,507 residents. Last year it lent 1,170 books, movies and e-books and logged 984 visits.
What Bridgewater’s library is like
Bridgewater Free Library is used less than most libraries its size
Bridgewater Free Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $16 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Bridgewater Free Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Bridgewater Free Library serves 1,507 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Most of Bridgewater’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
Bridgewater Free Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Waterville Public Library in Sangerfield, next door, is open about 38 hours a week. The building ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Bridgewater’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bridgewater is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. Bridgewater’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Bridgewater
7.6 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.
8.9%
8.9% of Bridgewater’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 Bridgewater’s residents live; 2022.
54% of borrowing is digital
1,170 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,908 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
626 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bridgewater Free Library serves 1,507 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Bridgewater last year.
Find it
Bridgewater Free Library, 408 Pritchard Avenue, Bridgewater.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bridgewater? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bridgewater cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $23K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $19K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23K 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 267 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bridgewater ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winfield | West Winfield Library | 15.6 | 25 | B |
| Paris | Clayville Library Association | 2.8 | 24 | C+ |
| Bridgewater | Bridgewater Free Library fine-free | 0.8 | 21 | B− |
| Sangerfield | Waterville Public Library fine-free | — | 38 | B+ |
| Plainfield | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Unadilla Forks | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Brookfield | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Bridgewater
Does Bridgewater have a public library?
Yes. Bridgewater Free Library, 408 Pritchard Avenue, serves Bridgewater’s 1,507 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bridgewater 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 Bridgewater’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bridgewater’s civic life grade?
B− Bridgewater is ahead of 54% 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 Bridgewater.
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.