Photo: JonHarder · CC BY-SA 3.0Hillsboro’s library lends 9.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Hillsboro Public Library serves Hillsboro’s 2,688 residents. Last year it lent 36K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
What Hillsboro’s library is like
Hillsboro ranks 3rd in Kansas for kids’ borrowing
Out of 70 Kansas towns with a library of their own, Hillsboro comes 3rd for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #5 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 69% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 33 items per child in Hillsboro last year. Kids & programs ↓
Hillsboro is a town of borrowers
Hillsboro Public Library lends 9.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone in Hillsboro has a card
2,324 cards for 2,688 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. 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 Hillsboro’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hillsboro is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #60 of 149 in Kansas. Hillsboro’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Hillsboro
6.3 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.4%
5.4% of Hillsboro’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 Hillsboro’s residents live; 2022.
73 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Hillsboro last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hillsboro Public Library serves 2,688 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
36K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
9,181 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Hillsboro Public Library, 120 E. Grand Ave., Hillsboro.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hillsboro? 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 $5.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hillsboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $104K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $526K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $104K 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 2,324 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsboro | Hillsboro Public Library | 13.3 | 39 | B+ |
| Risley Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Liberty Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 are a typical-week estimate. Hillsboro Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Hillsboro
Does Hillsboro have a public library?
Yes. Hillsboro Public Library, 120 E. Grand Ave., serves Hillsboro’s 2,688 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hillsboro 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 Hillsboro’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 13.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hillsboro’s civic life grade?
B+ Hillsboro is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #60 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 Hillsboro.
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.