Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Fowler’s library runs 46 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Fowler Public Library serves Fowler’s 1,209 residents. Last year it lent 4,860 books, movies and e-books and drew 900 people to its programs.
Fowler’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
98% of the 56 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 46 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Fowler Public Library serves 1,209 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 36 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Nearly everyone in Fowler has a card
1,040 cards for 1,209 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Fowler’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fowler is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Fowler is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Fowler’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
The survey’s stand-in for Fowler’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Fowler
5.3 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Fowler’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.8% in the typical Colorado 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 Fowler’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Fowler Public Library serves 1,209 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. 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
4,860 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
11 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Fowler last year.
Find it
Fowler Public Library, 411 6th Street, Fowler.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Fowler? 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 $2.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fowler cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $39K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $84K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $39K 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 1,040 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Fowler Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
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 Fowler
Does Fowler have a public library?
Yes. Fowler Public Library, 411 6th Street, serves Fowler’s 1,209 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fowler Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fowler’s library?
It lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 56 programs that drew 900 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Fowler’s civic life grade?
A− Fowler is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Fowler.
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.