Photo: Nyttend · Public domainBolivar’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Bolivar-Harpers Ferry Public Library serves 19,234 people in and around Bolivar. Last year it lent 85K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
Bolivar’s library, in brief
West Virginia pays a big share
43% of the budget comes from the state, and 54% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Bolivar-Harpers Ferry Public Library spends $12 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Bolivar-Harpers Ferry Public Library serves 19,234 people in and around Bolivar, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bolivar’s civic life grade
Bolivar 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 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bolivar-Harpers Ferry Public Library serves 19,234 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bolivar-Harpers Ferry Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
85K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Bolivar’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
15,821 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
Find it
Bolivar-Harpers Ferry Public Library, 151 Polk Street, Harpers Ferry.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bolivar-Harpers Ferry Public Library branch.
New in Bolivar? 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 $6.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bolivar cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $234K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $234K 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 8,824 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bolivar | Bolivar-Harpers Ferry Public Library | — | 49 | — graded with its twin city |
| Harpers Ferry | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Bolivar-Harpers Ferry Public Library serves 19,234 people in and around Bolivar, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bolivar.
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 Bolivar
Does Bolivar have a public library?
Yes. Bolivar-Harpers Ferry Public Library, 151 Polk Street, serves 19,234 people in and around Bolivar (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bolivar-Harpers Ferry 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 Bolivar’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bolivar’s civic life grade?
Bolivar 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 Bolivar.
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.