Photo: The original uploader was Nationalparks at English Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 2.5Bayfield’s library lends 4.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bayfield Carnegie Public Library serves Bayfield’s 4,151 residents. Last year it lent 29K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
What stands out about Bayfield’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Bayfield’s civic life grade
Bayfield isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bayfield Carnegie Public Library serves 4,151 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
29K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
9,116 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
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.
Find it
Bayfield Carnegie Public Library, 37 N. Broad St., Bayfield.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bayfield? 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 $2.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bayfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $199K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $484K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $199K 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 1,774 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Bayfield
Does Bayfield have a public library?
Yes. Bayfield Carnegie Public Library, 37 N. Broad St., serves Bayfield’s 4,151 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bayfield Carnegie Public 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 Bayfield’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 7.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bayfield’s civic life grade?
Bayfield isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Bayfield.
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.