Montezuma Township’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Montezuma Township Library serves 1,546 people in and around Montezuma Township. Last year it lent 22K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,674 visits.
Montezuma Township’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 67% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
1,689 cards for 1,546 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 167 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Montezuma Township Library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 7% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 50% 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; Montezuma Township Library serves 1,546 people in and around Montezuma Township, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Montezuma Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Montezuma Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Montezuma Township’s count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
Montezuma Township has few registered community nonprofits
0.7 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.0%
11.0% of Montezuma Township’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 Montezuma Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Montezuma Township Library serves 1,546 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Montezuma Township Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
22K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,487 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Montezuma Township Library, 309 N. Aztec, Montezuma.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Montezuma Township Library branch.
New in Montezuma Township? 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 $2.73 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Montezuma Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $129K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $351K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $129K 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 1,689 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copeland Township | Copeland Public Library fine-free | 14.0 | 22 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ingalls Township | Ingalls Public Library fine-free | 13.8 | 21 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Montezuma Township | Montezuma Township Library fine-free | — | 23 | B− |
| East Hess Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Mertilla Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Crooked Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Montezuma Township Library serves 1,546 people in and around Montezuma Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Montezuma Township.
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 Montezuma Township
Does Montezuma Township have a public library?
Yes. Montezuma Township Library, 309 N. Aztec, serves 1,546 people in and around Montezuma Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Montezuma Township 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 Montezuma Township’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 14.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Montezuma Township’s civic life grade?
B− Montezuma Township is ahead of 51% 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 Montezuma Township.
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.