Wabaunsee County Courthouse · Photo: Dylan Edwards · CC BY 4.0Alma’s library is a branch of Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 54% of systems its size
Alma’s library is the Alma Branch Library, a branch of Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library, which serves 28,587 people and lent 110K items last year.
What Alma’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
82% of the 518 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
The Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library system records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, below 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 3.4 print items per resident. 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; Alma’s library is a branch of Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (28,587 people), not just the Alma branch.
What’s behind Alma’s civic life grade
Alma 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library serves 28,587 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
110K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,912 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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
Alma Branch Library, 115 West 3rd, Alma.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library branch.
New in Alma? 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 $2.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Alma cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $806K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $806K 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 8,207 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Alma Branch Library is one branch of Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 28,587 people it serves.
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 Alma
Does Alma have a public library?
Yes: Alma Branch Library, 115 West 3rd, is a branch of Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library, which serves 28,587 people. The branch is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional 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 Alma’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Alma’s civic life grade?
Alma 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 Alma.
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.