Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Abilene’s library lends 8.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Abilene Public Library serves Abilene’s 6,443 residents. Last year it lent 69K books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
The short version on Abilene’s library
Nearly everyone in Abilene has a card
6,186 cards for 6,443 people, or 96%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in Kansas for kids’ borrowing
Abilene ranks #6 of 70 Kansas towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Abilene last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 23% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Abilene invests in its library
Abilene Public Library spends $102 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (87%) comes from local taxes. 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.
What’s behind Abilene’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Abilene is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #3 of 149 in Kansas. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
57 community nonprofits are registered in Abilene
8.8 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 (13 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.
17.2%
17.2% of Abilene’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.7% in the typical Kansas 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 Abilene’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Abilene Public Library serves 6,443 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
69K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 60K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
16,090 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, 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 Abilene last year.
Find it
Abilene Public Library, 209 NW 4th, Abilene.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Abilene? 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 $1.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Abilene cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $659K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $659K 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 6,186 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abilene | Abilene Public Library fine-free | 10.7 | 50 | A+ |
| Lincoln Township | Solomon Public Library fine-free | 1.8 | 26 | B+ |
| Grant Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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.
- 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 Abilene
Does Abilene have a public library?
Yes. Abilene Public Library, 209 NW 4th, serves Abilene’s 6,443 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Abilene Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Abilene’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 10.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Abilene’s civic life grade?
A+ Abilene is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #3 of 149 in Kansas. 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 Abilene.
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.