Photo: Ian Ballinger · CC BY-SA 4.0Baldwin City’s library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Baldwin City Library serves Baldwin City’s 4,929 residents. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
The short version on Baldwin City’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Baldwin City last year. Kids & programs ↓
Baldwin City uses its library more than almost any town its size
Baldwin City Library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 8.5 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in Kansas for kids’ borrowing
Baldwin City ranks #7 of 70 Kansas towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone in Baldwin City has a card
4,431 cards for 4,929 people, or 90%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Baldwin City Library logs about 60 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 12 public computers. That’s 4.4 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Baldwin City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Baldwin City is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #26 of 149 in Kansas. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Baldwin City
4.7 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 (6 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.
10.2%
10.2% of Baldwin City’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 Baldwin City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Baldwin City Library serves 4,929 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
10,350 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 Baldwin City last year.
Find it
Baldwin City Library, 800 7th St., Baldwin City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Baldwin City? 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 $3.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Baldwin City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $236K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $855K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $236K 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 4,431 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 Baldwin City
Does Baldwin City have a public library?
Yes. Baldwin City Library, 800 7th St., serves Baldwin City’s 4,929 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Baldwin City 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 Baldwin City’s library?
It logged 7.3 visits and lent 10.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Baldwin City’s civic life grade?
A Baldwin City is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life, #26 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 Baldwin 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.