Photo: SilentMatt Psychedelic · CC BY-SA 4.0Bristol Township’s library lends 22 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bristol Public Library serves Bristol Township’s 2,704 residents. Last year it lent 71K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,568 visits.
What Bristol Township’s library is like
More library cards than residents
3,698 cards for 2,704 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
74% of the budget comes from the state, and 10% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Bristol Township is a town of borrowers
Bristol Public Library lends 22 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 48% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 63 items per child in Bristol Township last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
81% of the 231 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 5 for ages 0–5. 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.
What’s behind Bristol Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bristol Township is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #512 of 914 in Ohio. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Bristol Township’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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Bristol Township
3.0 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.3%
9.3% of Bristol Township’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 Bristol Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Bristol Township last year.
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.
Bristol Public Library serves 2,704 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
71K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 56K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
11,253 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bristol Public Library, 1855 Greenville Rd. N.W., Bristolville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bristol Township? 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 $2.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bristol Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $425K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $425K 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 3,698 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol Township | Bristol Public Library | 26.4 | 45 | B− |
| Farmington Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Bloomfield Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Champion Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Mecca Township | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Bristol Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Bristol Township
Does Bristol Township have a public library?
Yes. Bristol Public Library, 1855 Greenville Rd. N.W., serves Bristol Township’s 2,704 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bristol 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 Bristol Township’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 26.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bristol Township’s civic life grade?
B− Bristol Township is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on civic life, #512 of 914 in Ohio. 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 Bristol Township.
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.