Photo: Paulmcdonald · CC BY-SA 3.0Jamestown’s library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Jamestown City Library serves Jamestown’s 234 residents. Last year it lent 677 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,120 visits.
The short version on Jamestown’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 94% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 12%. A year at the library ↓
Kansas pays a big share
65% of the budget comes from the state, and 35% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 12 hours a week
Jamestown City Library keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Most of Jamestown’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 60% of loans, more per resident than at 68% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 40%. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Jamestown City Library offered 1 programs last year, 4.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Jamestown’s civic life grade
Jamestown 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Jamestown City Library serves 234 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
60% of borrowing is digital
677 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 5,825 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
406 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
1 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
Jamestown City Library, 311 D Walnut, Jamestown.
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 Jamestown? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jamestown cardholder borrows.
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 130 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 Jamestown
Does Jamestown have a public library?
Yes. Jamestown City Library, 311 D Walnut, serves Jamestown’s 234 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jamestown 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 Jamestown’s library?
It logged 13.3 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Jamestown’s civic life grade?
Jamestown 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 Jamestown.
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.