Garden of Eden · Photo: IveGoneAway · CC BY-SA 4.0Lucas’ library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Lucas Public Library serves 338 people in and around Lucas. Last year it lent 1,432 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,721 visits.
The short version on Lucas’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 96% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 42%. The building also logs about 1 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 96% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Kansas pays a big share
30% of the budget comes from the state, and 40% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Lucas Public Library serves 338 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 ↓
Programs draw a crowd
1,437 people came to the library’s 51 programs last year: 4.3 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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 Lucas’ civic life grade
Lucas 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 →
51 programs a year
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lucas Public Library serves 338 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,432 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,142 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
340 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Lucas Public Library, 209 S. Main St., Lucas.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lucas? 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 $1.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lucas cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $33K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $37K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $33K 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 259 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Lucas’ 5,721 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Lucas
Does Lucas have a public library?
Yes. Lucas Public Library, 209 S. Main St., serves 338 people in and around Lucas (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lucas 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 Lucas’ library?
It logged 16.9 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lucas’ civic life grade?
Lucas 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 Lucas.
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.