Photo: Spacini · CC BY-SA 3.0Hugoton’s library runs 61 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Stevens County Library serves 5,077 people in and around Hugoton. Last year it lent 24K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
The short version on Hugoton’s library
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
4,587 cards for 5,077 people, or 90%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
59% of the 312 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 85 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Stevens County Library serves 5,077 people in and around Hugoton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hugoton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hugoton is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #101 of 149 in Kansas. Hugoton is graded on two of the three inputs. Hugoton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$78K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Hugoton
5.5 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.9%
4.9% of Hugoton’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 Hugoton’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 kids’ programs 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.
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.
Stevens County Library serves 5,077 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Stevens County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
24K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,384 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Stevens County Library, 500 Monroe, Hugoton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Stevens County Library branch.
New in Hugoton? 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 $1.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hugoton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $335K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $453K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $335K 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 4,587 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Stevens County Library serves 5,077 people in and around Hugoton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hugoton.
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 Hugoton
Does Hugoton have a public library?
Yes. Stevens County Library, 500 Monroe, serves 5,077 people in and around Hugoton (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stevens County 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 Hugoton’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hugoton’s civic life grade?
C+ Hugoton is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #101 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 Hugoton.
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.