Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Dighton Township’s library logs 7.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Dighton/Lane County Library serves 1,529 people in and around Dighton Township. Last year it lent 8,932 books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
What stands out about Dighton/Lane County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Dighton Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dighton Township is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Dighton Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Dighton Township near the top nationally; Dighton Township’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 Dighton Township
14.7 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.1%
14.1% of Dighton Township’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 Dighton Township’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dighton/Lane County Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Dighton/Lane County Library serves 1,529 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
8,932 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,718 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
38 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Dighton/Lane County Library, 144 South Lane, Dighton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dighton/Lane County Library branch.
New in Dighton 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 $2.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dighton Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $90K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $215K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $90K 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 1,242 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dighton Township | Dighton/Lane County Library | — | 42 | A+ |
| Alamota Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Garfield Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wilson Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cheyenne 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.
- System-wide. Dighton/Lane County Library serves 1,529 people in and around Dighton Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dighton Township.
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 Dighton Township
Does Dighton Township have a public library?
Yes. Dighton/Lane County Library, 144 South Lane, serves 1,529 people in and around Dighton Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dighton/Lane County 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 Dighton Township’s library?
It logged 7.4 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Dighton Township’s civic life grade?
A+ Dighton Township is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Dighton 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.