Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Johnson City

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Johnson, Kansas downtown 2Photo: Ammodramus · Public domain
Stanton County Public Library

Johnson City’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size

Stanton County Public Library serves 1,901 people in and around Johnson City. Last year it lent 4,151 books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.

103 E Sherman, Johnson 67855 · about 42 hours a week
A+Civic lifeAhead of 96% of U.S. towns. Library visits, nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
4,151
2.2 per resident
Visits a year
20K
10.5 per resident · Above typical (3.5)
Programs & events
142
about 3 a week · 3,436 attended
Cardholders
61%
1,159 cards
Open
42 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Stanton County Public Library

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

Civic life grade

What’s behind Johnson City’s civic life grade

On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Johnson City is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.

A+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Johnson City’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 96%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $53K–$89K (9,074)Ahead of 96%

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 A to A+. Johnson City is small (1,402 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

8 community nonprofits are registered in Johnson City

5.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation10.65 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans10.65 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services21.29 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.65 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.65 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other21.29 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

15.0%

15.0% of Johnson City’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 Johnson City’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Stanton County Public Library system. The library’s own count.

20K
visits
10.5 per resident
4,151
loans, print + digital
2.2 per resident
142
programs & events
3,436 attended
1,159
library cards
61% of people served
Every open hour2items borrowed
Every week66people at a program
Every day665Wi-Fi sessions
4 staff (full-time equivalent)11 public computers
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 10.5 visits · typical 3.5Top 10%
Borrowing per resident 2.1 print items · typical 3.9Lower than 74%
Digital borrowing 0.1 e-items · typical 1Lower than 78%
Kids’ borrowing 1 kids’ items · typical 1.4Lower than 60%
Program attendance 1.8 attendees · typical 0.7Higher than 82%
Programs offered 74.7 per 1,000 residents · typical 60Higher than 59%
Cardholders 61% of residents · typical 54%Higher than 56%
Spending $99 per resident · typical $54Higher than 82%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Stanton County Public Library serves 1,901 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.

What people borrow

Almost half the print loans are kids’ books

4,151 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

4,151loans
Books & media (adults) 51%Kids’ books & media 45%E-books, audio & streaming 4%
From your couch

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

Kids & programs

About 1 kids’ program a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Johnson City →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–523
Ages 6–1150
Teens50
Adults17
All ages2
Little ones
0.4

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

1,874
kids’ books & media borrowed
3,436
people at programs
142
programs
The building

Find it

Stanton County Public Library, 103 E Sherman, Johnson.

42
hours open a week
6,336
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Stanton County Public Library branch.

New in Johnson City? 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 $4.38 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Johnson City 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
17
Your card saves you about
$816
a year at retail prices · $68 a month

Who pays for it
$99 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $188K.

Local taxes 96%State 0%Federal 0%Gifts & other 4%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $823K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $188K 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 1,159 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Stanton County Public Library serves 1,901 people in and around Johnson City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Johnson City.

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 Johnson City

Does Johnson City have a public library?

Yes. Stanton County Public Library, 103 E Sherman, serves 1,901 people in and around Johnson City (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Stanton County 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 Johnson City’s library?

It logged 10.5 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.

What is Johnson City’s civic life grade?

A+ Johnson City is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Johnson City.

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.