Photo: Bishopvisitor · CC BY-SA 4.0Bishop’s library is a branch of Inyo County Free Library, which lends less per resident than 88% of systems its size
Bishop’s library is the Bishop Branch Library, a branch of Inyo County Free Library, which serves 18,856 people and lent 35K items last year.
What stands out about Bishop Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Bishop’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bishop is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #76 of 448 in California. Bishop is graded on two of the three inputs. Bishop’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Bishop
9.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.9%
6.9% of Bishop’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical California 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 Bishop’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Inyo County Free Library serves 18,856 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
A year at Inyo County Free Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Inyo County Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
35K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,298 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Bishop Branch Library, 210 Academy Ave., Bishop.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Inyo County Free Library branch.
New in Bishop? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bishop cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $841K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $571K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $841K 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 5,591 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop | Bishop Branch Library | — | 36 | A− |
| West Bishop | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Bishop Branch Library is one branch of Inyo County Free Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 18,856 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 Bishop
Does Bishop have a public library?
Yes: Bishop Branch Library, 210 Academy Ave., is a branch of Inyo County Free Library, which serves 18,856 people. The branch is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Inyo 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 Bishop’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bishop’s civic life grade?
A− Bishop is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #76 of 448 in California. 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 Bishop.
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.