Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Girard’s library logs 20 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Girard Public Library serves Girard’s 2,465 residents. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 49K visits.
The short version on Girard’s library
More library cards than residents
5,158 cards for 2,465 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Girard has the most-used library in Kansas
Out of 70 Kansas towns with a library of their own, Girard comes first for visits per resident. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Girard Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Today’s library there has 12,600 square feet. The building ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Girard Public Library holds 52,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
Girard invests in its library
Girard Public Library spends $110 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (88%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Girard’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Girard is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. All three inputs put Girard near the top nationally; library visits rank highest.
Girard Public Library logged 20.0 visits per resident in FY2024, #28 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Girard
10.4 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 (7 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.
14.8%
14.8% of Girard’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 Girard’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. 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.
Girard Public Library serves 2,465 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 52K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
2,232 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Girard last year.
A National Register landmark since 1987
Girard Public Library, 128 West Prairie Ave., Girard.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Girard? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Girard Carnegie Library
Girard Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 25, 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.
The Girard Public Library, a Carnegie library, was established in 1899 in Girard, Kansas, United States. The original building was constructed in 1906, at 128 West Prairie Avenue. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. It was the first free library in the city.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Girard cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $272K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $337K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $272K 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 5,158 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Girard | Girard Public Library | 6.9 | 48 | A+ |
| Crawford 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.
- Visits count everyone. Girard’s 49,387 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Girard
Does Girard have a public library?
Yes. Girard Public Library, 128 West Prairie Ave., serves Girard’s 2,465 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Girard 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 Girard’s library?
It logged 20.0 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Girard’s civic life grade?
A+ Girard 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 Girard.
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.