Photo: Photo by User:AudeVivere. · CC BY-SA 2.5Bedford’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Bedford County Federated Library System - Amin Unit serves 30,700 people in and around Bedford. Last year it lent 46K books, movies and e-books and logged 40K visits.
What Bedford’s library is like
Pennsylvania pays a big share
58% of the budget comes from the state, and 23% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Bedford County Federated Library System - Amin Unit is used less than most libraries its size
Bedford County Federated Library System - Amin Unit records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
82% of the 153 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Bedford County Federated Library System - Amin Unit offered 153 programs last year, 5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Bedford County Federated Library System - Amin Unit serves 30,700 people in and around Bedford, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bedford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bedford is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #28 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Bedford is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Bedford’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Bedford
7.1 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.
9.1%
9.1% of Bedford’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.0% in the typical Pennsylvania 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 Bedford’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bedford County Federated Library System - Amin Unit serves 30,700 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bedford County Federated Library System - Amin Unit system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
46K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
15,465 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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
Bedford County Federated Library System - Admin Unit, 240 South Wood Street, Bedford.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bedford County Federated Library System - Amin Unit branch.
New in Bedford? 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 $2.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bedford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $337K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $715K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $337K 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 3,278 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Bedford County Federated Library System - Amin Unit serves 30,700 people in and around Bedford, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bedford.
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 Bedford
Does Bedford have a public library?
Yes. Bedford County Federated Library System - Amin Unit, 240 South Wood Street, serves 30,700 people in and around Bedford (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bedford County Federated Library System - Amin Unit 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 Bedford’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bedford’s civic life grade?
A Bedford is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life, #28 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. 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 Bedford.
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.