Kennedy’s library logs 0.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Kennedy Public Library serves Kennedy’s 430 residents. Last year it lent 102 books, movies and e-books and logged 70 visits.
What Kennedy’s library is like
Kennedy Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Kennedy Public Library records 0.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Well funded, but lightly used
Kennedy Public Library spends $105 per resident, more than 84% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 99% of them. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Kennedy Public Library serves 430 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 31 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 ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Kennedy Public Library offered 3 programs last year, 7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people Kennedy Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Kennedy’s civic life grade
Kennedy 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 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Kennedy Public Library serves 430 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Kennedy Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
102 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 4,268 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
36 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Kennedy Public Library, 17885 Highway 96, Kennedy.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Kennedy? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kennedy cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $45K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2,292 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $45K 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 68 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 Kennedy
Does Kennedy have a public library?
Yes. Kennedy Public Library, 17885 Highway 96, serves Kennedy’s 430 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kennedy 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 Kennedy’s library?
It logged 0.2 visits and lent 0.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Kennedy’s civic life grade?
Kennedy 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 Kennedy.
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.