Photo: Smallbones · Public domainBristol Township’s library is a branch of Bucks County Free Library, which lends less per resident than 51% of systems its size
Bristol Township’s library is the Levittown Regional Library, a branch of Bucks County Free Library, which serves 507,641 people and lent 2.1M items last year.
What Bristol Township’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, the Bucks County Free Library system sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Pennsylvania pays a big share
32% of the budget comes from the state, and 55% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
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; Bristol Township’s library is a branch of Bucks County Free Library, so they cover the whole system (507,641 people), not just the Bristol Township branch.
What’s behind Bristol Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bristol Township is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #958 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Bristol Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Bristol Township’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Bucks County Free Library spends $19 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$99K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
127 community nonprofits are registered in Bristol Township
2.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (43 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.3%
5.3% of Bristol Township’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 Bristol Township’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Bucks County Free Library serves 507,641 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 94 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bucks County Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
2.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
500,537 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 38 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
Levittown Regional Library, 7311 New Falls Rd., Levittown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bucks County Free Library branch.
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 $3.31 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: $36. Operating budget $9.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $31M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.5M 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 138,935 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington | Library Company of Burlington | 2.2 | 43 | C− |
| Florence Township | Florence Township Library fine-free | 1.7 | 45 | D |
| Bristol Township | Levittown Regional Library | — | 61 | D |
| Bensalem Township | Bensalem Library | — | 57 | D− |
| Bristol | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Croydon | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Middletown Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Levittown | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Falls Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Tullytown | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Burlington Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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. Levittown Regional Library is one branch of Bucks County Free Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 507,641 people it serves.
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: Levittown Regional Library, 7311 New Falls Rd., is a branch of Bucks County Free Library, which serves 507,641 people. The branch is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bucks County Free 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 1.8 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Bristol Township’s civic life grade?
D Bristol Township is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on civic life, #958 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 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.