Webster City Post Office · Photo: Ann Sullivan-Larson · CC BY-SA 3.0Webster City’s library runs 61 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Kendall Young Library serves Webster City’s 10,085 residents. Last year it lent 46K print books and media and logged 46K visits.
What Webster City’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
90% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 9%. What your card is worth ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Kendall Young Library ran 612 programs last year, about 12 a week. That’s 61 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 9,610 attended. 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 Webster City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Webster City is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns, #130 of 138 in Iowa. Webster City is graded on two of the three inputs. Webster City’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$79K) 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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Webster City
4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.3%
5.3% of Webster City’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 Webster City’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 Webster City last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Kendall Young Library serves 10,085 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
46K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 60K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
Find it
Kendall Young Library, 1201 Willson Ave, Webster City.
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 $1.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Webster City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $768K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $804K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $768K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 3,031 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Webster City
Does Webster City have a public library?
Yes. Kendall Young Library, 1201 Willson Ave, serves Webster City’s 10,085 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kendall Young Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Webster City’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 4.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Webster City’s civic life grade?
C Webster City is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns on civic life, #130 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 Webster 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.