Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Bridgeport’s library lends 9.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bridgeport Public Library serves 9,336 people in and around Bridgeport. Last year it lent 198K books, movies and e-books and logged 61K visits.
The short version on Bridgeport’s library
More library cards than residents
10,810 cards for 9,336 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 46%. What people borrow ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Bridgeport Public Library lends 9.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Bridgeport Public Library spends $101 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) comes from local taxes. 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; Bridgeport Public Library serves 9,336 people in and around Bridgeport, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bridgeport’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bridgeport is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #8 of 48 in West Virginia. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Bridgeport’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 →
89 community nonprofits are registered in Bridgeport
9.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.1%
11.1% of Bridgeport’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.9% in the typical West Virginia 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 Bridgeport’s residents live; 2022.
54% of borrowing is digital
198K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Bridgeport’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
106,405 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bridgeport Public Library serves 9,336 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 88 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bridgeport Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 4 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
Bridgeport Public Library, 1200 Johnson Avenue, Bridgeport.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bridgeport Public Library branch.
New in Bridgeport? 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 $3.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bridgeport cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $945K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $945K 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 10,810 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgeport | Bridgeport Public Library fine-free | — | 43 | A+ |
| Clarksburg | Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library fine-free | — | 49 | A |
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. Bridgeport Public Library serves 9,336 people in and around Bridgeport, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bridgeport.
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 Bridgeport
Does Bridgeport have a public library?
Yes. Bridgeport Public Library, 1200 Johnson Avenue, serves 9,336 people in and around Bridgeport (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bridgeport 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 Bridgeport’s library?
It logged 6.5 visits and lent 21.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bridgeport’s civic life grade?
A+ Bridgeport is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 of 48 in West Virginia. 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 Bridgeport.
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.