Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 3.0Bowdle’s library logs 8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Bowdle Public Library serves Bowdle’s 476 residents. Last year it lent 3,349 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,816 visits.
What Bowdle’s library is like
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 84% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 80% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Bowdle Public Library serves 476 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 30 hours a week. 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 ↓
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans, more per resident than at 85% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 60%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 71 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 21 for ages 0–5. 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 Bowdle’s civic life grade
Bowdle 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 →
71 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 Bowdle last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bowdle Public Library serves 476 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.
40% of borrowing is digital
3,349 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 5,450 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
1,352 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bowdle Public Library, 3043 Main Street, Bowdle.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bowdle? 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 $1.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bowdle cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $43K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $60K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $43K 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 201 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Bowdle
Does Bowdle have a public library?
Yes. Bowdle Public Library, 3043 Main Street, serves Bowdle’s 476 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bowdle 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 Bowdle’s library?
It logged 8.0 visits and lent 7.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bowdle’s civic life grade?
Bowdle 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 Bowdle.
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.