Photo: G. Edward Johnson · CC BY 4.0Bristow’s library lends 9.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bristow Montfort Allie Jones Mem Library serves Bristow’s 4,258 residents. Last year it lent 47K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,963 visits.
The short version on Bristow’s library
More library cards than residents
12,345 cards for 4,258 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 ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 61%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
41% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 54%. What your card is worth ↓
Top 10% in Oklahoma for borrowing
Bristow ranks #4 of 60 Oklahoma towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 9.2 items per resident, more than at 89% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 43% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 16 items per child in Bristow last year. 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 Bristow’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bristow is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #76 of 128 in Oklahoma. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Bristow’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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Bristow
2.6 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
16.9%
16.9% of Bristow’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.7% in the typical Oklahoma 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 Bristow’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bristow Montfort Allie Jones Mem Library serves 4,258 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
47K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
7,935 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
51 programs a year
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 Bristow last year.
Find it
Bristow Montfort & Allie Jones Mem Library, 111 W 7th Ave, Bristow.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bristow? 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 $2.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bristow cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $261K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $748K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $261K 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 12,345 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Bristow Montfort Allie Jones Mem 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 Bristow
Does Bristow have a public library?
Yes. Bristow Montfort Allie Jones Mem Library, 111 W 7th Ave, serves Bristow’s 4,258 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bristow Montfort Allie Jones Mem 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 Bristow’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 11.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bristow’s civic life grade?
B− Bristow is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #76 of 128 in Oklahoma. 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 Bristow.
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.