Wyandotte National Burying Ground, Eliza Burton Conley Burial Site · Photo: Mark Michalovic · CC BY-SA 3.0Kansas City’s library runs 24 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Kansas City, Kansas Public Library serves Kansas City’s 157,667 residents from 5 locations. Last year it lent 693K books, movies and e-books and logged 320K visits.
What Kansas City’s library is like
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Kansas City, Kansas Public Library ran 3,721 programs last year, about 72 a week. That’s 24 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 71,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
The main library is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out. The buildings ↓
Five places to borrow in Kansas City
Kansas City, Kansas Public Library runs five locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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.
What’s behind Kansas City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Kansas City is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #144 of 149 in Kansas State. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #299. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
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 →
351 community nonprofits are registered in Kansas City
2.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (238 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 27 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.6%
4.6% of Kansas City’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.7% in the typical Kansas State 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 Kansas City’s residents live; 2022.
About 39 kids’ programs a week
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 Kansas City last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Kansas City, Kansas Public Library serves 157,667 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
693K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 448K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
173,539 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
5 places to borrow in Kansas City
Kansas City, Kansas Public Library, 625 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City.
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 Kansas City? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Kansas City
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kansas City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 111,771 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonner Springs | Bonner Springs City Library fine-free | 13.2 | 64 | B+ |
| Kansas City | Kansas City, Kansas Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 66 | D |
| Parkville | Parkville Branch | — | 69 | B |
| Riverside | Riverside Branch | — | 61 | C |
| Fairmount Township | Basehor Community Library, Dist #2, Lv. Co. fine-free | — | 62 | B− |
| Shawnee | Monticello Library fine-free | — | 65 | B− |
| Roeland Park | Cedar Roe Library fine-free | — | 57 | B+ |
| Edwardsville | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Lake Quivira | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Delaware Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
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 Kansas City
Does Kansas City have a public library?
Yes. Kansas City, Kansas Public Library, 625 Minnesota Avenue, serves Kansas City’s 157,667 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kansas City, Kansas 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 Kansas City’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Kansas City’s civic life grade?
D Kansas City is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #144 of 149 in Kansas State. 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 Kansas City.
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.