Photo: Lorie Shaull · CC BY 2.0Bovey’s library lends 2.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Bovey Public Library serves Bovey’s 807 residents. Last year it lent 3,709 books, movies and e-books.
What stands out about Bovey’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Bovey’s civic life grade
Bovey 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bovey Public Library serves 807 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
3,709 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,372 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
50 programs a year
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 Bovey last year.
Find it
Bovey Public Library, 402 2nd Street, Bovey.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bovey? 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 $1.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bovey cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $47K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $57K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $47K 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 520 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coleraine | Coleraine Public Library fine-free | 20.3 | 39 | A |
| Bovey | Bovey Public Library fine-free | 4.6 | 24 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Taconite | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Trout Lake 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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Bovey Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2022 figure, 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 Bovey
Does Bovey have a public library?
Yes. Bovey Public Library, 402 2nd Street, serves Bovey’s 807 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bovey 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 Bovey’s library?
It lent 4.6 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 50 programs. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Bovey’s civic life grade?
Bovey 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 Bovey.
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.