Photo: Unknown professional photographer paid by the Clay County Commissioners · CC BY-SA 4.0Clay Center’s library logs 7.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Clay Center Carnegie Library serves Clay Center’s 4,094 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
The short version on Clay Center’s library
More library cards than residents
4,768 cards for 4,094 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Clay Center Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Today’s library there has 8,420 square feet. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 82% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 3% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 85% 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.
What’s behind Clay Center’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Clay Center is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #22 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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Clay Center
7.0 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 (14 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.
8.6%
8.6% of Clay Center’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 Clay Center’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Clay Center Carnegie Library serves 4,094 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 40K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
761 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
35 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 Clay Center last year.
A National Register landmark since 1987
Clay Center Carnegie Library, 706 6 St., Clay Center.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Clay Center? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Clay Center Carnegie Library
Clay Center Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 25, 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 Clay Center Carnegie Library in Clay Center, Kansas, is a Carnegie library built in 1912. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. It is a two-story gray brick building, about 68 by 41 feet (21 m × 12 m) in plan.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clay Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $202K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $394K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $202K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 4,768 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Clay Center Carnegie Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Clay Center
Does Clay Center have a public library?
Yes. Clay Center Carnegie Library, 706 6 St., serves Clay Center’s 4,094 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clay Center Carnegie Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Clay Center’s library?
It logged 7.4 visits and lent 6.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Clay Center’s civic life grade?
A Clay Center is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #22 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 Clay Center.
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.