Photo: Melissa Bower · CC BY-SA 4.0Leavenworth’s library runs 11 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Leavenworth Public Library serves Leavenworth’s 37,034 residents. Last year it lent 207K books, movies and e-books and logged 98K visits.
What Leavenworth’s library is like
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 397 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
Leavenworth Public Library is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 59 items go out. The building ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans, more per resident than at 78% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 59%, much of it kids’ books. 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.
What’s behind Leavenworth’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Leavenworth is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #90 of 149 in Kansas. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
147 community nonprofits are registered in Leavenworth
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (41 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.2%
8.2% of Leavenworth’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 Leavenworth’s residents live; 2022.
41% of borrowing is digital
207K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 87K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
84,611 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 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Leavenworth Public Library serves 37,034 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 59 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 6 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 Leavenworth last year.
Find it
Leavenworth Public Library, 417 Spruce Street, Leavenworth.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Leavenworth? 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 $1.89 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Leavenworth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 16,112 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leavenworth | Leavenworth Public Library fine-free | 5.6 | 68 | B− |
| Lansing | Lansing Community Library fine-free | 4.1 | 49 | C+ |
| Kickapoo Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| High Prairie Township | 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 Leavenworth
Does Leavenworth have a public library?
Yes. Leavenworth Public Library, 417 Spruce Street, serves Leavenworth’s 37,034 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Leavenworth 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 Leavenworth’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 5.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Leavenworth’s civic life grade?
B− Leavenworth is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #90 of 149 in Kansas. 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 Leavenworth.
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.