Clearwater’s library logs 7.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Clearwater Public Library serves Clearwater’s 2,642 residents. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
What Clearwater’s library is like
Programs draw a crowd
5,048 people came to the library’s 201 programs last year: 1.9 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
People come to Clearwater Public Library a lot
Clearwater Public Library logs 7.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 83% 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 Clearwater’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Clearwater is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #37 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Clearwater
5.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.7%
7.7% of Clearwater’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 Clearwater’s residents live; 2022.
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 Clearwater last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Clearwater Public Library serves 2,642 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
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
2,639 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Clearwater Public Library, 109 E. Ross, Clearwater.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Clearwater? 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 $2.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clearwater cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $157K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $313K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $157K 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 2,012 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. Clearwater Public 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 Clearwater
Does Clearwater have a public library?
Yes. Clearwater Public Library, 109 E. Ross, serves Clearwater’s 2,642 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clearwater Public 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 Clearwater’s library?
It logged 7.6 visits and lent 7.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Clearwater’s civic life grade?
A− Clearwater is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on civic life, #37 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 Clearwater.
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.