Photo: Smothert1 · CC BY-SA 3.0Homestead Cybrarium serves Homestead’s 83,012 residents
Homestead Cybrarium serves Homestead’s 83,012 residents.
What stands out about Homestead’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Homestead’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Homestead is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #254 of 273 in Florida. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Homestead is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Homestead’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
The survey’s stand-in for Homestead’s 2024 visits carries forward a 2022 figure, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($49K–$82K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
182 community nonprofits are registered in Homestead
2.2 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 (94 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.7%
2.7% of Homestead’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 Homestead’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1996
Homestead Cybrarium, 80 West Mowry Drive, Homestead.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Bow, Lily Lawrence, Library
Bow, Lily Lawrence, Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 5, 1996. It is significant for its architecture and town planning at the local level. Its architecture is described as Vernacular. It was listed as part of Homestead MPS.
The Lily Lawrence Bow Library is a historic library in Homestead, Florida. It is located 212 Northwest 1st Avenue. On August 5, 1996, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It was named after Lily Lawrence Bow, Homestead's first librarian.
More about the building →A year at Homestead Cybrarium
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits and print loans. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Homestead resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 83,012 people it serves ÷ 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homestead | Homestead Cybrarium | — | — | D− |
| Leisure City | Naranja Branch Library fine-free | — | 56 | — unincorporated |
| Florida City | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Homestead Base | 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: visits. Homestead Cybrarium didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2022 figure, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- Not reported for 2024: print loans. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Homestead
Does Homestead have a public library?
Yes. Homestead Cybrarium, 80 West Mowry Drive, serves Homestead’s 83,012 residents (the survey’s count).
How busy is Homestead’s library?
It lent 0.0 items per resident in 2024 (print). Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Homestead’s civic life grade?
D− Homestead is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #254 of 273 in Florida. 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 Homestead.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.