Freeman-Zumbrunn House · Photo: SharonPapierdreams · CC BY-SA 4.0Noble Township’s library logs 4.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Chapman Public Library serves 1,372 people in and around Noble Township. Last year it lent 4,178 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,281 visits.
What Noble Township’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
86% of the 100 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Chapman Public Library serves 1,372 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 ↓
Most of Noble Township’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans, more per resident than at 67% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 46%. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Noble Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Noble Township is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. Noble Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Noble Township’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 Noble Township
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.2%
11.2% of Noble 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 Noble Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Chapman Public Library serves 1,372 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
54% of borrowing is digital
4,178 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
2,247 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Chapman Public Library, 402 N. Marshall, Chapman.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Noble 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 $2.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Noble Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $39K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $108K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $39K 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 1,005 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noble Township | Chapman Public Library fine-free | 3.0 | 25 | A+ |
| Smoky Hill Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Rinehart Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hayes Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Fragrant Hill 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.
- 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 Noble Township
Does Noble Township have a public library?
Yes. Chapman Public Library, 402 N. Marshall, serves 1,372 people in and around Noble Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chapman 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 Noble Township’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Noble Township’s civic life grade?
A+ Noble Township 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 Noble 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.