Photo: Smallbones · Public domainNorton’s library logs 18 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Norton Public Library serves Norton’s 2,676 residents. Last year it lent 35K books, movies and e-books and logged 49K visits.
Norton’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
4,583 cards for 2,676 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Norton ranks 2nd in Kansas for library use
Out of 70 Kansas towns with a library of their own, Norton comes 2nd for visits per resident. It’s also #7 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
Norton uses its library more than almost any town its size
Norton Public Library logs 18 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 9.8 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
88% of the 229 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 51 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 16 items per child in Norton last year. 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.
What’s behind Norton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Norton is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #25 of 149 in Kansas. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Norton Public Library logged 18.4 visits per resident in FY2024, #38 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
31 community nonprofits are registered in Norton
11.5 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.9%
6.9% of Norton’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 Norton’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Norton Public Library serves 2,676 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
35K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 56K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
8,456 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Norton last year.
Find it
Norton Public Library, 1 Washington Square, Norton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Norton? 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 $3.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Norton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $180K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $551K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $180K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 4,583 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Norton’s 49,265 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Norton Public 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 Norton
Does Norton have a public library?
Yes. Norton Public Library, 1 Washington Square, serves Norton’s 2,676 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Norton Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Norton’s library?
It logged 18.4 visits and lent 12.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Norton’s civic life grade?
A Norton is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life, #25 of 149 in Kansas. 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 Norton.
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.