Photo: Bwsmith84 · CC BY 3.0Monroe Township’s library runs 121 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Bowerston Public Library serves 3,115 people in and around Monroe Township. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 2,912 visits.
The short version on Monroe Township’s library
Ohio pays a big share
91% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
96% of the 377 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Bowerston Public Library ran 377 programs last year, about 7 a week. That’s 121 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 5,299 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Bowerston Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, below 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 3.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; Bowerston Public Library serves 3,115 people in and around Monroe Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Monroe Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Monroe Township is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns. Monroe Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Monroe Township’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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Monroe Township
1.5 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.1%
14.1% of Monroe Township’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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 Monroe Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 kids’ programs a week
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bowerston Public Library serves 3,115 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bowerston Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,195 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Bowerston Public Library, 200 Main St., Bowerston.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Bowerston Public Library branch.
New in Monroe Township? 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 $1.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monroe Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $221K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $252K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $221K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,003 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe Township | Bowerston Public Library | — | 38 | B− |
| North Township | Scio Branch Library fine-free | — | 28 | B |
| Mill Township | Claymont School District Public Library fine-free | — | 38 | C+ |
| Franklin Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Orange Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Union Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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.
- System-wide. Bowerston Public Library serves 3,115 people in and around Monroe Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Monroe Township.
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 Monroe Township
Does Monroe Township have a public library?
Yes. Bowerston Public Library, 200 Main St., serves 3,115 people in and around Monroe Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bowerston Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Monroe Township’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Monroe Township’s civic life grade?
B− Monroe Township is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Monroe Township.
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.