Sapp House · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0Panama City’s library is a branch of Northwest Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 72% of systems its size
Panama City’s library is the Bay County Public Library, a branch of Northwest Regional Library System, which serves 216,657 people and lent 453K items last year.
What stands out about Bay County Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Panama City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Panama City is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #120 of 273 in Florida. Panama City is graded on two of the three inputs. Panama City’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$78K) 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 →
139 community nonprofits are registered in Panama City
4.0 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 (51 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.
5.6%
5.6% of Panama City’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 Panama City’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Northwest Regional Library System serves 216,657 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Northwest Regional Library System
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Northwest Regional Library System 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.
Books and media off the shelf
453K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Panama City’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 11 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
Bay County Public Library, 898 West 11th Street, Panama City.
Good at every Northwest Regional Library System branch.
New in Panama City? 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 $2.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Panama City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.6M 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 55,785 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panama City | Bay County Public Library | — | 51 | C |
| Pretty Bayou | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Cedar Grove | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Lynn Haven | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Springfield | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Bay County Public Library is one branch of Northwest Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 216,657 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 Panama City
Does Panama City have a public library?
Yes: Bay County Public Library, 898 West 11th Street, is a branch of Northwest Regional Library System, which serves 216,657 people. The branch is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northwest Regional Library System fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Panama City’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Panama City’s civic life grade?
C Panama City is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #120 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 Panama City.
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.