Otis’ library lends 34 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Otis Community Library serves Otis’s 286 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 1,671 visits.
Otis’s library, in brief
Kansas pays a big share
50% of the budget comes from the state, and 35% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Otis is a town of borrowers
Otis Community Library lends 34 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 13 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. It’s 28% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 33% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 18 items per child in Otis last year. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Otis Community Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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 Otis’ civic life grade
Otis 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 →
37 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Otis last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Otis Community Library serves 286 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,121 books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
3,680 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Otis Community Library, 122 South Main, Otis.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Otis? 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 $9.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Otis cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $22K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $210K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $22K 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 225 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 Otis
Does Otis have a public library?
Yes. Otis Community Library, 122 South Main, serves Otis’ 286 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Otis Community 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 Otis’ library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 46.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Otis’ civic life grade?
Otis 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 Otis.
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.