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Hoisington Public Library

Hoisington’s library runs 24 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size

Hoisington Public Library serves Hoisington’s 2,617 residents. Last year it lent 10K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,198 visits.

169 South Walnut, Hoisington 67544 · about 35 hours a week
B+Civic lifeAhead of 65% of U.S. towns · #64 of 149 in Kansas. Library visits, nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
10K
3.9 per resident
Visits a year
6,198
2.4 per resident · Below typical (3)
Programs & events
62
about 1 a week · 790 attended
Cardholders
52%
1,349 cards
Open
35 hrs
a week

What stands out about Hoisington’s library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Hoisington’s civic life grade

On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hoisington is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #64 of 149 in Kansas. Hoisington’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.

B+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Hoisington’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 65%
FewerMore
Kansas towns we grade (149)Ahead of 57%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $39K–$65K (5,623)Ahead of 62%

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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. Hoisington is small (2,598 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

18 community nonprofits are registered in Hoisington

6.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture20.76 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation20.76 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans41.51 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services31.14 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education20.76 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.38 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other41.51 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

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.

Volunteering

8.4%

8.4% of Hoisington’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 Hoisington’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.4 visits · typical 3Lower than 60%
Borrowing per resident 2.9 print items · typical 3.8Lower than 64%
Digital borrowing 1 e-items · typical 1Higher than 52%
Kids’ borrowing 1 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 66%
Program attendance 0.3 attendees · typical 0.5Lower than 68%
Programs offered 23.7 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Lower than 65%
Cardholders 52% of residents · typical 42%Higher than 64%
Spending $39 per resident · typical $43Lower than 56%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Ranked in KS#58Most-used librariesof 70 towns
#59Most library borrowingof 70 towns
#64Best libraries for kidsof 70 towns
Size group

Hoisington Public Library serves 2,617 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

6,198
visits
2.4 per resident
10K
loans, print + digital
3.9 per resident
62
programs & events
790 attended
1,349
library cards
52% of people served
Every open hour6items borrowed
Every week15people at a program
Every day0Wi-Fi sessions
2 staff (full-time equivalent)4 public computers21K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

10K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

10Kloans
Books & media (adults) 47%Kids’ books & media 26%E-books, audio & streaming 27%
How hard the shelves work
0.4×

Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.

From your couch

2,741 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

62 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Hoisington →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–519
Ages 6–1116
Teens0
Adults27
All ages0
Little ones
0.4

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
4

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Hoisington last year.

790
people at programs
62
programs
The building

Find it

Hoisington Public Library, 169 South Walnut, Hoisington.

35
hours open a week
6,530
square feet
21K
books & media
With a card

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 Hoisington? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.61 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hoisington cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$39 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $102K.

Local taxes 84%State 16%Federal 0%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $164K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $102K 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 1,349 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
HoisingtonHoisington Public Library fine-free3.935B+
South Homestead TownshipNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
North Homestead TownshipNone 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).

How to read these numbers

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 Hoisington

Does Hoisington have a public library?

Yes. Hoisington Public Library, 169 South Walnut, serves Hoisington’s 2,617 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Hoisington 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 Hoisington’s library?

It logged 2.4 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Hoisington’s civic life grade?

B+ Hoisington is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #64 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 Hoisington.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.