Photo: Paltron · CC BY-SA 4.0Fort Scott’s library runs 18 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Fort Scott Public Library serves Fort Scott’s 7,565 residents. Last year it lent 44K books, movies and e-books and logged 17K visits.
What stands out about Fort Scott’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Fort Scott’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fort Scott is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #59 of 149 in Kansas. Fort Scott’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 →
64 community nonprofits are registered in Fort Scott
8.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (22 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.5%
8.5% of Fort Scott’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 Fort Scott’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1987
Fort Scott Public Library, 201 S. National, Fort Scott.
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 Fort Scott? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Fort Scott Public Carnegie Library
Fort Scott Public Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 18, 1987. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. It was listed as part of Carnegie Libraries of Kansas TR.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fort Scott Public Library serves 7,565 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
44K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
9,996 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Fort Scott last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fort Scott cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $292K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $676K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $292K 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 2,531 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Fort Scott
Does Fort Scott have a public library?
Yes. Fort Scott Public Library, 201 S. National, serves Fort Scott’s 7,565 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fort Scott 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 Fort Scott’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Fort Scott’s civic life grade?
B+ Fort Scott is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #59 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 Fort Scott.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.