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Douglass Public Library

Douglass Township’s library logs 6.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size

Douglass Public Library serves 2,304 people in and around Douglass Township. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.

319 S. Forest, Douglass 67039 · about 38 hours a week
B+Civic lifeAhead of 69% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
13K
5.8 per resident
Visits a year
15K
6.5 per resident · Above typical (3.5)
Programs & events
177
about 3 a week · 2,983 attended
Cardholders
87%
2,004 cards
Open
38 hrs
a week
In brief

Douglass Township’s library, in brief

A small-town library

Douglass Public Library serves 2,304 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 38 hours a week. 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 ↓

Nearly everyone in Douglass Township has a card

2,004 cards for 2,304 people, or 87%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓

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.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Douglass Township’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Douglass Township is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns. Douglass Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Douglass Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

B+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Douglass Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 69%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $62K–$103K (8,957)Ahead of 69%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Douglass Township is small (1,961 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

11 community nonprofits are registered in Douglass Township

5.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation10.52 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans21.05 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services21.05 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education31.57 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other31.57 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

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.

Volunteering

7.3%

7.3% of Douglass 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 Douglass Township’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 6.5 visits · typical 3.5Higher than 77%
Borrowing per resident 5.2 print items · typical 3.9Higher than 63%
Digital borrowing 0.7 e-items · typical 1Lower than 59%
Kids’ borrowing 2.8 kids’ items · typical 1.4Higher than 74%
Program attendance 1.3 attendees · typical 0.7Higher than 72%
Programs offered 76.8 per 1,000 residents · typical 60Higher than 60%
Cardholders 87% of residents · typical 54%Higher than 73%
Spending $53 per resident · typical $54Lower than 51%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Douglass Public Library serves 2,304 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

15K
visits
6.5 per resident
13K
loans, print + digital
5.8 per resident
177
programs & events
2,983 attended
2,004
library cards
87% of people served
Every open hour7items borrowed
Every week57people at a program
Every day1Wi-Fi sessions
2 staff (full-time equivalent)6 public computers18K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

13Kloans
Books & media (adults) 40%Kids’ books & media 49%E-books, audio & streaming 12%
How hard the shelves work
0.7×

Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.

From your couch

1,597 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 2 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Douglass Township →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–543
Ages 6–1142
Teens33
Adults42
All ages17
Little ones
0.8

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

6,537
kids’ books & media borrowed
2,983
people at programs
177
programs
The building

Find it

Douglass Public Library, 319 S. Forest, Douglass.

38
hours open a week
3,796
square feet
18K
books & media
With a card

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 Douglass Township? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.84 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Douglass Township cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$53 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $122K.

Local taxes 85%State 8%Gifts & other 7%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $224K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $122K 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 2,004 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
Douglass TownshipDouglass Public Library fine-free5.838B+
Richland TownshipRose Hill Public Library3.244C
Rock Creek TownshipNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
Walnut TownshipNone of its own——— graded with its twin city
Rock Creek TownshipNone 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).

How to read these numbers

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 Douglass Township

Does Douglass Township have a public library?

Yes. Douglass Public Library, 319 S. Forest, serves 2,304 people in and around Douglass Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Douglass Public Library 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 Douglass Township’s library?

It logged 6.5 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 Douglass Township’s civic life grade?

B+ Douglass Township is ahead of 69% 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 Douglass Township.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.