Photo: Nyttend · Public domainBradford’s library runs 74 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Bradford Public Library serves 3,153 people in and around Bradford. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,760 visits.
Bradford’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
91% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
3,012 cards for 3,153 people, or 96%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
60% of the 232 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 80 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Bradford Public Library serves 3,153 people in and around Bradford, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bradford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bradford is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. Bradford is graded on two of the three inputs. Bradford’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Bradford
6.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
6.8%
6.8% of Bradford’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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 Bradford’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,636 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bradford Public Library serves 3,153 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bradford Public Library system. The library’s own count.
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
Bradford Public Library, 138 E. Main St., Bradford.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bradford Public Library branch.
New in Bradford? 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 $1.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bradford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $256K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $470K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $256K 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 3,012 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bradford Public Library serves 3,153 people in and around Bradford, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bradford.
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 Bradford
Does Bradford have a public library?
Yes. Bradford Public Library, 138 E. Main St., serves 3,153 people in and around Bradford (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bradford 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 Bradford’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 8.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bradford’s civic life grade?
B+ Bradford is ahead of 66% 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 Bradford.
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.