Photo: Iowahwyman · CC BY-SA 3.0Johnston’s library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Johnston Public Library serves Johnston’s 26,990 residents. Last year it lent 237K print books and media and logged 112K visits.
What stands out about Johnston’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Johnston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Johnston is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #59 of 138 in Iowa. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Johnston’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
145 community nonprofits are registered in Johnston
6.0 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 (21 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.8%
8.8% of Johnston’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Iowa 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 Johnston’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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 Johnston last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Johnston Public Library serves 26,990 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 72 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
237K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 79K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3 times last year, on average.
Find it
Johnston Public Library, 6700 Merle Hay Rd, Johnston.
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 $2.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Johnston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 12,888 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Johnston ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Johnston
Does Johnston have a public library?
Yes. Johnston Public Library, 6700 Merle Hay Rd, serves Johnston’s 26,990 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Johnston Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Johnston’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 8.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Johnston’s civic life grade?
A− Johnston is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #59 of 138 in Iowa. 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 Johnston.
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.