Jennings’ library lends 23 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Jennings City Library serves Jennings’s 81 residents. Last year it lent 2,434 books, movies and e-books and logged 780 visits.
What Jennings’s library is like
More library cards than residents
128 cards for 81 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Open only about 8 hours a week
Jennings City Library keeps short hours: about 8 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Jennings uses its library more than almost any town its size
Jennings City Library logs 9.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 23 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kansas pays a big share
44% of the budget comes from the state, and 40% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 6.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. It’s 22% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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 Jennings’ civic life grade
Jennings 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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,434 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 3,632 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
543 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Jennings City Library serves 81 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
17 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
Jennings City Library, 133 S Kansas Avenue, Jennings.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Jennings? 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 $4.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jennings cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $10K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $42K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $10K 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 128 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 Jennings
Does Jennings have a public library?
Yes. Jennings City Library, 133 S Kansas Avenue, serves Jennings’ 81 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 8 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jennings 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 Jennings’ library?
It logged 9.6 visits and lent 30.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Jennings’ civic life grade?
Jennings 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 Jennings.
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.