Cottonwood River Bridge · Photo: Jstropes1990 · CC BY-SA 3.0Falls Township’s library lends 8.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Burnley Memorial/Falls Township serves Falls Township’s 1,055 residents. Last year it lent 10K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,391 visits.
The short version on Falls Township’s library
Programs are almost all for children
95% of the 64 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 50 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Burnley Memorial/Falls Township keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Burnley Memorial/Falls Township serves 1,055 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
26% of the budget comes from the state, and 52% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A place to get online
Burnley Memorial/Falls Township logs about 12 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 6 public computers. That’s 4.2 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Falls Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Falls Township is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns. Falls Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Falls Township
5.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.5%
8.5% of Falls 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 Falls Township’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
10K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,816 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
1,192 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Burnley Memorial/Falls Township serves 1,055 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Falls Township last year.
Find it
Cottonwood Falls/Burnley Memorial, 405 N. Oak, Cottonwood Falls.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Falls 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 $5.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Falls Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $35K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $185K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $35K 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 411 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falls Township | Cottonwood Falls/Burnley Memorial fine-free | 9.5 | 16 | B+ |
| Bazaar Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Toledo Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Strong Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Diamond Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cottonwood 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.
- 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 Falls Township
Does Falls Township have a public library?
Yes. Burnley Memorial/Falls Township, 405 N. Oak, serves Falls Township’s 1,055 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Burnley Memorial/Falls Township 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 Falls Township’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 9.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Falls Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Falls Township is ahead of 68% 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 Falls 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.