Kiowa’s library lends 9.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Kiowa Public Library serves Kiowa’s 869 residents. Last year it lent 8,373 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,337 visits.
What Kiowa’s library is like
Kansas pays a big share
100% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Kiowa Public Library serves 869 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. 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 ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 1% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 79% of similar-size libraries. 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 Kiowa’s civic life grade
Kiowa 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
8,373 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
61 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 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Kiowa Public Library serves 869 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.
Not reported for 2024: spending and funding. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
81 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Kiowa last year.
Find it
Kiowa Public Library, 123 N 7th, Kiowa.
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 Kiowa? 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 Kiowa 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 549 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: spending and funding. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Kiowa
Does Kiowa have a public library?
Yes. Kiowa Public Library, 123 N 7th, serves Kiowa’s 869 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kiowa 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 Kiowa’s library?
It logged 6.1 visits and lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Kiowa’s civic life grade?
Kiowa 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 Kiowa.
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.