Photo: Ngresonance · Public domainGrainfield’s library runs 100 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Grainfield City Library serves Grainfield’s 319 residents. Last year it lent 2,782 books, movies and e-books and logged 550 visits.
Grainfield’s library, in brief
Most of Grainfield’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 77% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 23%. What people borrow ↓
Open only about 7 hours a week
Grainfield City Library keeps short hours: about 7 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Grainfield City Library serves 319 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
29% of the budget comes from the state, and 51% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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 Grainfield’s civic life grade
Grainfield isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
77% of borrowing is digital
2,782 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 4,562 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
2,133 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Grainfield City Library serves 319 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
32 programs a year
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.
Find it
Grainfield City Library, 242 Main St., Grainfield.
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 Grainfield? 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 $3.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Grainfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $11K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $44K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11K 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 230 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 Grainfield
Does Grainfield have a public library?
Yes. Grainfield City Library, 242 Main St., serves Grainfield’s 319 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 7 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Grainfield City 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 Grainfield’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 8.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Grainfield’s civic life grade?
Grainfield isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Grainfield.
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.