Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Center Township’s library lends 2.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Library District #1, Doniphan County serves 6,971 people in and around Center Township. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
What Center Township’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
94% of the 201 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Library District #1, Doniphan County spends $90 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 2% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Library District #1, Doniphan County serves 6,971 people in and around Center Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Center Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Center Township is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns. Center Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Center Township
4.2 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
23.8%
23.8% of Center Township’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 Center Township’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Center Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $630K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $290K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $630K 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 2,520 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Library District #1, Doniphan County serves 6,971 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Library District #1, Doniphan County system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
328 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Library District #1, Doniphan County, 105 N. Main, Troy.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Library District #1, Doniphan County branch.
New in Center Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center Township | Library District #1, Doniphan County fine-free | — | 52 | A |
| Washington Township | Wathena Branch Library fine-free | — | 44 | B− |
| Iowa Township | Highland Branch Library fine-free | — | 44 | A− |
| Burr Oak Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Marion Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wayne Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wolf River Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Independence Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Library District #1, Doniphan County serves 6,971 people in and around Center Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Center Township.
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 Center Township
Does Center Township have a public library?
Yes. Library District #1, Doniphan County, 105 N. Main, serves 6,971 people in and around Center Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Library District #1, Doniphan County 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 Center Township’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Center Township’s civic life grade?
A Center Township is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Center Township.
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.