Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Bow’s library logs 5.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Baker Free Library serves Bow’s 8,327 residents. Last year it lent 73K books, movies and e-books and logged 49K visits.
What Bow’s library is like
Programs draw a crowd
13,000 people came to the library’s 213 programs last year: 1.6 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 29% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 213 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 83% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Bow’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bow is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #54 of 126 in New Hampshire. Library visits hold the grade up; Bow’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Bow
2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.9%
8.9% of Bow’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical New Hampshire 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 Bow’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 Bow last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Baker Free Library serves 8,327 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
73K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 42K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
21,431 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Baker Free Library, 509 South Street, Bow.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bow? 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 $1.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bow cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $644K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $644K 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 6,387 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bow ranks 3rd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hopkinton | Hopkinton Town Library fine-free | 14.9 | 38 | A− |
| Hooksett | Hooksett Public Library fine-free | 12.6 | 31 | B |
| Bow | Baker Free Library fine-free | 8.8 | 54 | B+ |
| Concord | Concord Public Library | 5.7 | 56 | A− |
| Dunbarton | Dunbarton Public Library fine-free | 4.9 | 32 | C |
| Pembroke | Pembroke Town Library fine-free | 4.0 | 40 | C |
| Suncook | Allenstown Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 22 | — graded as part of its town |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Bow
Does Bow have a public library?
Yes. Baker Free Library, 509 South Street, serves Bow’s 8,327 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Baker Free 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 Bow’s library?
It logged 5.9 visits and lent 8.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bow’s civic life grade?
B+ Bow is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #54 of 126 in New Hampshire. 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 Bow.
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.