Goddard’s library logs 7.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Goddard Public Library serves Goddard’s 5,708 residents. Last year it lent 50K books, movies and e-books and logged 42K visits.
What Goddard’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 79% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 17 items per child in Goddard last year. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone in Goddard has a card
5,428 cards for 5,708 people, or 95%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
14,000 people came to the library’s 363 programs last year: 2.4 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
People come to Goddard Public Library a lot
Goddard Public Library logs 7.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.3 print items per resident. 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.
What’s behind Goddard’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Goddard is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #45 of 149 in Kansas. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Goddard
4.2 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 (6 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.
8.3%
8.3% of Goddard’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 Goddard’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 Goddard last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Goddard Public Library serves 5,708 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
50K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
8,171 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Goddard Public Library, 201 N. Main, City of Goddard.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Goddard? 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 $3.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Goddard cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $246K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $807K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $246K 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 5,428 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Goddard borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goddard | Goddard Public Library | 8.7 | 47 | A− |
| Attica Township | Goddard Public Library | 8.7 | 47 | B− |
| Wichita | Advanced Learning Library fine-free | 4.3 | 57 | 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.
- 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 Goddard
Does Goddard have a public library?
Yes. Goddard Public Library, 201 N. Main, serves Goddard’s 5,708 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Goddard 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 Goddard’s library?
It logged 7.4 visits and lent 8.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Goddard’s civic life grade?
A− Goddard is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #45 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 Goddard.
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.