State Prison Historic District · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0Bayport’s library lends 16 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bayport Public Library serves Bayport’s 3,848 residents. Last year it lent 68K books, movies and e-books and logged 34K visits.
What Bayport’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 57% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 54 items per child in Bayport last year. Kids & programs ↓
Bayport uses its library more than almost any town its size
Bayport Public Library logs 8.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 16 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
47% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 53%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
75% of the 178 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Bayport invests in its library
Bayport Public Library spends $100 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. 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.
What’s behind Bayport’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bayport is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #18 of 271 in Minnesota. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Bayport
4.4 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 (1 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.
15.4%
15.4% of Bayport’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical Minnesota 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 Bayport’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 kids’ programs 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 Bayport last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bayport Public Library serves 3,848 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
68K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 31K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
7,388 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bayport Public Library, 582 N 4th Street, Bayport.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bayport? 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 $2.70 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bayport cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $384K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $384K 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 2,865 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bayport | Bayport Public Library fine-free | 17.5 | 48 | A |
| Baytown Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Oak Park Heights | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| North Hudson | None of its own | — | — | B |
| St. Joseph | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Hudson | None of its own | — | — | B |
| West Lakeland Township | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Bayport Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Bayport
Does Bayport have a public library?
Yes. Bayport Public Library, 582 N 4th Street, serves Bayport’s 3,848 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bayport 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 Bayport’s library?
It logged 8.8 visits and lent 17.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bayport’s civic life grade?
A Bayport is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on civic life, #18 of 271 in Minnesota. 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 Bayport.
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.