About Us
Bradford County Courthouse, Towanda
The System of Bradford County Libraries, created in 1981, serves Bradford County, located in northeastern Pennsylvania. Bradford County, composed of 37 townships and 14 boroughs, covers an area of 1,161 square miles and boasts a population of 62,761 inhabitants.
The system forms part of the North Central Library District, based in Williamsport. The Bradford County Library serves as the system headquarters while the administrative office is located in Towanda, the county seat.
Nine independent public libraries make up the system. One, the Bradford County Library, is primarily county-funded, while the remaining eight are financed mostly by their local communities.
Ben Franklin Store - Towanda
The system, which was established to enhance the viability of and services offered by these institutions, has several functions:
- Distribute and oversee state monies allotted to the nine libraries
- Ensure that libraries meet state standards and other requirements
- Act as a liaison between local and District and State libraries
- Provide consulting and educational services to librarians
- Develop, provide, and promote county-wide services and programs
- Advocate for libraries within the county and beyond
Susquehanna River & Veterans' Memorial Bridge, Towanda
As such, the system aids member libraries to offer the following free services to all residents of the county at any of the nine libraries:
- Access to a range of materials, including books, magazines, videos, audio books, and more
- Inter-library loan
- Rotating video and audio collections
- Computers connected to the web
- Electronic data bases such as Power Library and Learning Express
- On and off-site electronic account management and bibliographic searches
- Summer reading programs
System-wide statistics (2010)
- Collections (total items) – 236,934
- Periodical titles – 426
- Cardholders — 32,956
- Circulation – 262,077
- Visitors – 181,064
- Service hours per week — 376
- Expenditure on collections — $149,844
- Total operating expenditures — $1,092,503
Maps of Bradford County and our local communities
