Photo: Pubdog · Public domainBradford’s library runs 33 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Bradford Area Public Library serves 19,314 people in and around Bradford. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 53K visits.
Bradford’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
73% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 8%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Bradford Area Public Library lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, fewer than 88% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
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 Area Public Library serves 19,314 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 50% of U.S. towns, #347 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. 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 →
43 community nonprofits are registered in Bradford
5.6 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.9%
5.9% of Bradford’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 Bradford’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bradford Area Public Library serves 19,314 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bradford Area Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,037 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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 Area Public Library, 67 W Washington St., Bradford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bradford Area 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 $1.14 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 $527K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $599K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $527K 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 2,436 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradford | Bradford Area Public Library | — | 41 | B− |
| Bradford Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Foster Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Foster Brook | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| University of Pittsburgh Bradford | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Bradford Area Public Library serves 19,314 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 Area Public Library, 67 W Washington St., serves 19,314 people in and around Bradford (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bradford Area 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 Bradford’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bradford’s civic life grade?
B− Bradford is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #347 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 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.