Photo: Kaethesson · CC BY-SA 3.0Cherryvale’s library logs 6.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Cherryvale Public Library serves Cherryvale’s 2,128 residents. Last year it lent 5,691 books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
What Cherryvale’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 76% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 27%. A year at the library ↓
A small-town library
Cherryvale Public Library serves 2,128 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 38 hours a week. 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Cherryvale Carnegie Free Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Today’s library there has 2,271 square feet. The building ↓
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 Cherryvale’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cherryvale is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Cherryvale
5.7 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.4%
12.4% of Cherryvale’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 Cherryvale’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1987
Cherryvale Public Library, 329 East Main St., Cherryvale.
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 Cherryvale? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Cherryvale Carnegie Free Library
Cherryvale Carnegie Free Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 18, 1987. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. It was listed as part of Carnegie Libraries of Kansas TR.
The Cherryvale Carnegie Free Library is a Carnegie library located at 329 E. Main in Cherryvale, Kansas. The library was built in 1913 through a $10,000 grant from the Carnegie Foundation. Architect George P. Washburn, who also designed eight other Carnegie libraries in Kansas, designed the library in the Classical Revival style. The red brick library has three bays in its facade.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Cherryvale Public Library serves 2,128 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,691 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
959 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 Cherryvale last year.
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 Cherryvale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $73K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $98K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $73K 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 949 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 Cherryvale
Does Cherryvale have a public library?
Yes. Cherryvale Public Library, 329 East Main St., serves Cherryvale’s 2,128 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cherryvale 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 Cherryvale’s library?
It logged 6.2 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Cherryvale’s civic life grade?
A Cherryvale is ahead of 93% 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 Cherryvale.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.