Overland Theater · Photo: Dlong417 · CC BY-SA 3.0Overland Park’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Johnson County Library serves 474,776 people in and around Overland Park from 3 locations. Last year it lent 6.9M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.9M visits.
What Overland Park’s library is like
One of the busiest library systems its size
Johnson County Library logs 3.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Johnson County Library offered 1,689 programs last year, 3.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 1,689 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 22 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Johnson County Library spends $114 per resident a year, about three times the typical $36 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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; Johnson County Library serves 474,776 people in and around Overland Park, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Overland Park’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Overland Park is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #91 of 149 in Kansas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #103. Overland Park is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Overland Park’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 →
632 community nonprofits are registered in Overland Park
3.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (160 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 40 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.2%
8.2% of Overland Park’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 Overland Park’s residents live; 2022.
About 25 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Johnson County Library serves 474,776 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 169 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Johnson County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
6.9M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,714,364 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 places to borrow in Overland Park
Johnson County Library, 9875 W. 87th Street, Overland Park.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Johnson County Library branch.
New in Overland Park? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Johnson County Library branches in Overland Park
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Overland Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $54M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $102M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $54M 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 223,721 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olathe | Olathe Downtown Library fine-free | 11.1 | 64 | B− |
| Overland Park | Johnson County Library fine-free | — | 65 | B− |
| Leawood | Leawood Pioneer Library fine-free | — | 61 | A− |
| Merriam | Merriam Plaza fine-free | — | 65 | C− |
| Lenexa | Lenexa City Center fine-free | — | 65 | B |
| Prairie Village | Corinth Library fine-free | — | 65 | B+ |
| Oxford Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Aubry Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Mission | None of its own | — | — | A |
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. Johnson County Library serves 474,776 people in and around Overland Park, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Overland Park.
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 Overland Park
Does Overland Park have a public library?
Yes. Johnson County Library, 9875 W. 87th Street, serves 474,776 people in and around Overland Park (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Johnson County 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 Overland Park’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 14.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Overland Park’s civic life grade?
B− Overland Park is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #91 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 Overland Park.
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.