Photo: Dcoetzee · Public domainBremerton’s library is a branch of Kitsap Regional Library, which lends more per resident than 79% of systems its size
Bremerton’s library is the Sylvan Way Library, a branch of Kitsap Regional Library, which serves 286,100 people and lent 2.6M items last year.
What stands out about Sylvan Way Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Bremerton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bremerton is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #23 of 152 in Washington. Bremerton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
226 community nonprofits are registered in Bremerton
5.0 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 (62 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.7%
9.7% of Bremerton’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.7% in the typical Washington 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 Bremerton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Kitsap Regional Library serves 286,100 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 115 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kitsap Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2.6M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
876,883 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 31 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.
2 places to borrow in Bremerton
Sylvan Way Library, 1301 Sylvan Way, Bremerton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kitsap Regional Library branch.
New in Bremerton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Kitsap Regional Library branches in Bremerton
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bremerton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $17M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $17M 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 90,588 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bremerton | Sylvan Way Library fine-free | — | 54 | A− |
| Port Orchard | Port Orchard Library fine-free | — | 54 | C+ |
| Rocky Point | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Navy Yard City | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Enetai | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Kitsap Lake | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Tracyton | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Gorst | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Erlands Point | 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. Sylvan Way Library is one branch of Kitsap Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 286,100 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 Bremerton
Does Bremerton have a public library?
Yes: Sylvan Way Library, 1301 Sylvan Way, is a branch of Kitsap Regional Library, which serves 286,100 people. The branch is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kitsap Regional Library 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 Bremerton’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 9.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Bremerton’s civic life grade?
A− Bremerton is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #23 of 152 in Washington. 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 Bremerton.
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.