Bronson’s library runs 147 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Bronson Public Library serves Bronson’s 307 residents. Last year it lent 1,300 books, movies and e-books and logged 563 visits.
What Bronson’s library is like
Kansas pays a big share
41% of the budget comes from the state, and 56% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 17 hours a week
Bronson Public Library keeps short hours: about 17 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Bronson Public Library serves 307 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Bronson’s civic life grade
Bronson 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bronson Public Library serves 307 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1,300 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,796 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
248 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
45 programs a year
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 Bronson last year.
Find it
Bronson Public Library, 509 Clay, Bronson.
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 Bronson? 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 $1.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bronson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $17K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $23K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $17K 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 107 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 Bronson
Does Bronson have a public library?
Yes. Bronson Public Library, 509 Clay, serves Bronson’s 307 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bronson 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 Bronson’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bronson’s civic life grade?
Bronson 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 Bronson.
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.