Photo: ADKMatthew · CC BY-SA 4.0Hill City’s library logs 6.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Graham County Public Library serves 2,376 people in and around Hill City. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What stands out about Graham County Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Hill City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hill City is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. Hill City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Hill City’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Hill City
10.1 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Hill City’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 Hill City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Graham County Public Library serves 2,376 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Graham County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,337 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, across the whole system, 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
Graham County Public Library, 414 N West, Hill City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Graham County Public Library branch.
New in Hill City? 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 $1.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hill City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $119K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $171K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $119K 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 1,213 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Graham County Public Library serves 2,376 people in and around Hill City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hill City.
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 Hill City
Does Hill City have a public library?
Yes. Graham County Public Library, 414 N West, serves 2,376 people in and around Hill City (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Graham County 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 Hill City’s library?
It logged 6.1 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hill City’s civic life grade?
A Hill City is ahead of 93% 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 Hill City.
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.