Derby’s library logs 6.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Derby Public Library serves Derby’s 26,233 residents. Last year it lent 375K books, movies and e-books and logged 169K visits.
What Derby’s library is like
Derby ranks 2nd in Kansas for borrowing
Out of 70 Kansas towns with a library of their own, Derby comes 2nd for items borrowed per resident. How it compares ↓
Derby uses its library more than almost any town its size
Derby Public Library logs 6.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 9.8 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 31% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone in Derby has a card
24,013 cards for 26,233 people, or 92%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 47% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 17 items per child in Derby last year. Kids & programs ↓
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 Derby’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Derby is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #85 of 149 in Kansas. Library visits hold the grade up; Derby’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
56 community nonprofits are registered in Derby
2.2 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 (26 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.
7.7%
7.7% of Derby’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 Derby’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Derby Public Library serves 26,233 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 111 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
375K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 116K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
117,963 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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 Derby last year.
Find it
Derby Public Library, 1600 E Walnut Grove, Derby.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Derby? 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 $2.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Derby cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 24,013 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derby | Derby Public Library | 14.3 | 65 | B− |
| Rockford Township | Derby Public Library | 14.3 | 65 | C |
| Riverside Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Gypsum Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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 Derby
Does Derby have a public library?
Yes. Derby Public Library, 1600 E Walnut Grove, serves Derby’s 26,233 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Derby 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 Derby’s library?
It logged 6.4 visits and lent 14.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Derby’s civic life grade?
B− Derby is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #85 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 Derby.
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.