Bovina’s library runs 96 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Bovina Public Library serves Bovina’s 658 residents. Last year it lent 1,936 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,200 visits.
What Bovina’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
77% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 20%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Bovina Public Library serves 658 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Bovina Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Cannon Free Library in Delhi, next door, is open about 36 hours a week. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
90% of the 63 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 2 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Bovina’s civic life grade
Bovina 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 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bovina Public Library serves 658 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,936 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,452 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
246 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
63 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 Bovina last year.
Find it
Bovina Public Library, 33 Maple Avenue, Bovina Center.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bovina? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bovina cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $50K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $42K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $50K 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 213 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bovina ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi | Cannon Free Library fine-free | 3.8 | 36 | A− |
| Middletown | Fairview Public Library | 3.6 | 31 | A |
| Andes | Andes Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 22 | A− |
| Bovina | Bovina Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Roxbury | Roxbury Library Association fine-free | 1.3 | 25 | A+ |
| Stamford | Stamford Library | — | 33 | — too few inputs |
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. Bovina 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 Bovina
Does Bovina have a public library?
Yes. Bovina Public Library, 33 Maple Avenue, serves Bovina’s 658 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bovina 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 Bovina’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bovina’s civic life grade?
Bovina 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 Bovina.
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.