Osage County Courthouse · Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Lyndon’s library runs 94 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Lyndon Carnegie Library serves 1,518 people in and around Lyndon. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,902 visits.
The short version on Lyndon’s library
A small-town library
Lyndon Carnegie Library serves 1,518 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 33 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
Lyndon Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Today’s library there has 3,300 square feet. The building ↓
Federal money pays a real share
12% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 53% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Lyndon Carnegie Library serves more than Lyndon
The library’s service area covers 1,518 people in and around Lyndon, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Lyndon Carnegie Library logs about 37 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 10 public computers. That’s 8.9 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Lyndon’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lyndon is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. Lyndon is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lyndon’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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Lyndon
7.8 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.4%
11.4% of Lyndon’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 Lyndon’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1987
Lyndon Carnegie Library, 127 E 6th St., Lyndon.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lyndon? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Lyndon Carnegie Library
Lyndon 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.
The Lyndon Carnegie Library, located at 127 E. Sixth in Lyndon, Kansas, is a Classical Revival-style Carnegie library which was built in about 1911. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. It is a one-story, brick and limestone building about 49 by 39 feet (15 m × 12 m) in plan, and faces south. It was funded by an $8,000 Carnegie Foundation grant.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lyndon Carnegie Library serves 1,518 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
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.
3,876 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.90 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lyndon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $123K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $234K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $123K 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 1,105 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Lyndon
Does Lyndon have a public library?
Yes. Lyndon Carnegie Library, 127 E 6th St., serves 1,518 people in and around Lyndon (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lyndon 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 Lyndon’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lyndon’s civic life grade?
A+ Lyndon is ahead of 96% 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 Lyndon.
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.