Photo: Bhall87 · CC BY-SA 3.0Palmyra Township’s library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Baldwin City Library serves 4,929 people in and around Palmyra Township. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
What Palmyra Township’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Palmyra Township uses its library more than almost any town its size
Baldwin City Library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 8.5 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone in Palmyra Township has a card
4,431 cards for 4,929 people, or 90%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Baldwin City Library logs about 60 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 12 public computers. That’s 4.4 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Palmyra Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Palmyra Township is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #42 of 149 in Kansas. Palmyra Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Palmyra Township
4.2 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.2%
10.2% of Palmyra 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 Palmyra 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Baldwin City Library serves 4,929 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
10,350 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Baldwin City Library, 800 7th St., Baldwin City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Palmyra 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 $3.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Palmyra Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $236K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $855K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $236K 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 4,431 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Township | Wellsville City Library fine-free | 11.0 | 49 | A− |
| Palmyra Township | Baldwin City Library fine-free | 10.6 | 47 | A− |
| Eudora Township | Eudora Community Library fine-free | — | 52 | C+ |
| Willow Springs Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| McCamish Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wakarusa Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Hayes 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 Palmyra Township
Does Palmyra Township have a public library?
Yes. Baldwin City Library, 800 7th St., serves 4,929 people in and around Palmyra Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Baldwin City 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 Palmyra Township’s library?
It logged 7.3 visits and lent 10.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Palmyra Township’s civic life grade?
A− Palmyra Township is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #42 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 Palmyra 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.