Clyde School · Photo: SharonPapierdreams · CC BY-SA 4.0Clyde’s library runs 278 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Randolph-Decker Pub. Lib. serves Clyde’s 681 residents. Last year it lent 3,709 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,640 visits.
Clyde’s library, in brief
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Randolph-Decker Pub. Lib. ran 189 programs last year, about 4 a week. That’s 278 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 1,860 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Randolph-Decker Pub. Lib. serves 681 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 60% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Randolph-Decker Pub. Lib. keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans, more per resident than at 77% 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 Clyde’s civic life grade
Clyde 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 →
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 Clyde last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Randolph-Decker Pub. Lib. serves 681 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
41% of borrowing is digital
3,709 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,373 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
1,523 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Randolph-Decker Pub. Lib., 107 S Green St., Clyde.
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 Clyde? 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 $2.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clyde cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $30K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $75K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $30K 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 337 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. Randolph-Decker Pub. Lib. 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 Clyde
Does Clyde have a public library?
Yes. Randolph-Decker Pub. Lib., 107 S Green St., serves Clyde’s 681 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Randolph-Decker Pub. Lib. 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 Clyde’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Clyde’s civic life grade?
Clyde 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 Clyde.
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.