Photo: Huw Williams (Huwmanbeing) · Public domainBoswell’s library lends 5.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Boswell-Grant Township Public Library serves 1,085 people in and around Boswell. Last year it lent 6,879 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,260 visits.
What Boswell’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
Boswell-Grant Township Public Library spends $138 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (89%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Boswell-Grant Township Public Library serves 1,085 people in and around Boswell, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Boswell’s civic life grade
Boswell isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Boswell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $150K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $139K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $150K 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 198 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Boswell-Grant Township Public Library serves 1,085 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Boswell-Grant Township Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,879 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
957 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
45 programs a year
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
Boswell-Grant Township Public Library, 101 North Clinton Street, Boswell.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Boswell-Grant Township Public Library branch.
New in Boswell? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Boswell-Grant Township Public Library serves 1,085 people in and around Boswell, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Boswell.
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 Boswell
Does Boswell have a public library?
Yes. Boswell-Grant Township Public Library, 101 North Clinton Street, serves 1,085 people in and around Boswell (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Boswell-Grant Township Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Boswell’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 6.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Boswell’s civic life grade?
Boswell isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Boswell.
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.