Photo: Billy Hathorn. Original uploader was Billy Hathorn at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Bay City’s library lends 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Bay City Public Library serves Bay City’s 29,109 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 38K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
What stands out about Bay City’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Bay City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bay City is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #372 of 539 in Texas. Bay City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Bay City’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Bay City Public Library spends $22 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($40K–$67K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Bay City
2.5 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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.7%
5.7% of Bay City’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.7% in the typical Texas 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 Bay City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bay City Public Library serves 29,109 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
38K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 43K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
6,989 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Bay City last year.
2 places to borrow in Bay City
Bay City Public Library, 1100 7th St., Bay City.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bay City? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Bay City
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bay City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $633K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $621K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $633K 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 16,185 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bay City | Bay City Public Library | 1.3 | 48 | D |
| Van Vleck | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 Bay City
Does Bay City have a public library?
Yes. Bay City Public Library, 1100 7th St., serves Bay City’s 29,109 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bay City 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 Bay City’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bay City’s civic life grade?
D Bay City is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #372 of 539 in Texas. 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 Bay City.
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.