Jewell’s library logs 4.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Jewell Public Library serves Jewell’s 353 residents. Last year it lent 1,600 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,634 visits.
The short version on Jewell’s library
Kansas pays a big share
40% of the budget comes from the state, and 57% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Jewell Public Library serves 353 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Jewell Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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 Jewell’s civic life grade
Jewell 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Jewell Public Library serves 353 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,600 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,620 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
298 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
21 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 Jewell last year.
Find it
Jewell Public Library, 216 Delaware Street, Jewell.
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 Jewell? 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 $1.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jewell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $23K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $26K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23K 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 184 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 Jewell
Does Jewell have a public library?
Yes. Jewell Public Library, 216 Delaware Street, serves Jewell’s 353 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jewell 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 Jewell’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Jewell’s civic life grade?
Jewell 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 Jewell.
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.