Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0Bowie’s library runs 6.6 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Bowie Public Library serves Bowie’s 18,647 residents. Last year it lent 62K books, movies and e-books and logged 33K visits.
Bowie’s library, in brief
Most of Bowie’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 61% of loans, more per resident than at 75% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 39%. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Bowie Public Library spends $14 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 124 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 34 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.
What’s behind Bowie’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bowie is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #101 of 539 in Texas. Bowie is graded on two of the three inputs. Bowie’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
46 community nonprofits are registered in Bowie
8.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of Bowie’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 Bowie’s residents live; 2022.
61% of borrowing is digital
62K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
37,485 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bowie Public Library serves 18,647 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 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 Bowie last year.
Find it
Bowie Public Library, 301 Walnut St., Bowie.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bowie? 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 $3.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bowie cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $266K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $266K 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 3,868 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 Bowie
Does Bowie have a public library?
Yes. Bowie Public Library, 301 Walnut St., serves Bowie’s 18,647 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bowie 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 Bowie’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bowie’s civic life grade?
B Bowie is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #101 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 Bowie.
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.