Chetopa Township’s library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Thayer Friday Reading Club City Library serves 425 people in and around Chetopa Township. Last year it lent 4,028 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,115 visits.
The short version on Chetopa Township’s library
A small-town library
Thayer Friday Reading Club City Library serves 425 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 23 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 ↓
Kansas pays a big share
34% of the budget comes from the state, and 63% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans, more per resident than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 59%, much of it kids’ books. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Chetopa Township’s civic life grade
Chetopa Township 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 →
41% of borrowing is digital
4,028 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,143 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
1,641 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Thayer Friday Reading Club City Library serves 425 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.
7 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Thayer Friday Reading Club City Library, 200 West Neosho Avenue, Thayer.
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 Chetopa Township? 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 $2.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chetopa Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $27K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $62K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $27K 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 265 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chetopa Township | Thayer Friday Reading Club City Library fine-free | 9.5 | 23 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Canville Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Shiloh Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Centerville 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.
- 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 Chetopa Township
Does Chetopa Township have a public library?
Yes. Thayer Friday Reading Club City Library, 200 West Neosho Avenue, serves 425 people in and around Chetopa Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Thayer Friday Reading Club 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 Chetopa Township’s library?
It logged 7.3 visits and lent 9.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Chetopa Township’s civic life grade?
Chetopa Township 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 Chetopa 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.