Photo: Faith Wilson from Woodinville, WA, U.S.A. · CC BY-SA 2.0Lincoln Center’s library lends 8.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Lincoln Carnegie Library serves Lincoln Center’s 1,155 residents. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,745 visits.
The short version on Lincoln Center’s library
Programs are almost all for children
82% of the 83 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 48 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Lincoln Carnegie Library serves 1,155 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 38 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Lincoln Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Today’s library there has 4,986 square feet. The building ↓
Nearly everyone in Lincoln Center has a card
1,015 cards for 1,155 people, or 88%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Kansas pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 77% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
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 Lincoln Center’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lincoln Center is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lincoln Center’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Lincoln Center
14.0 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.3%
12.3% of Lincoln Center’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 Lincoln Center’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Lincoln Center last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lincoln Carnegie Library serves 1,155 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.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
2,160 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1987
Lincoln Carnegie Library, 203 S Third, Lincoln.
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 Lincoln Center? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Lincoln Carnegie Library
Lincoln Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 25, 1987. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. It was listed as part of Carnegie Libraries of Kansas TR.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lincoln Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $81K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $196K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $81K 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 1,015 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Lincoln Carnegie Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Lincoln Center
Does Lincoln Center have a public library?
Yes. Lincoln Carnegie Library, 203 S Third, serves Lincoln Center’s 1,155 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lincoln Carnegie 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 Lincoln Center’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 10.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lincoln Center’s civic life grade?
A+ Lincoln Center is ahead of 97% 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 Lincoln Center.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.