Photo: Steve Meirowsky (Wikipedia) (Flickr) · CC BY-SA 3.0Peabody Township’s library runs 11 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Peabody Township Library serves Peabody Township’s 1,112 residents. Last year it lent 3,086 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,233 visits.
The short version on Peabody Township’s library
More library cards than residents
1,333 cards for 1,112 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Well funded, but lightly used
Peabody Township Library spends $97 per resident, more than 82% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 75% of them. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Peabody Township Library serves 1,112 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 29 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Peabody Township Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Today’s library there has 2,052 square feet. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Peabody Township Library offered 12 programs last year, 11 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Peabody Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Peabody Township is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Peabody Township
8.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
30.7%
30.7% of Peabody 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 Peabody Township’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Peabody Township Library serves 1,112 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,086 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,492 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
321 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
12 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 Peabody Township last year.
A National Register landmark since 1987
Peabody Township Library, 214 N. Walnut, Peabody.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Peabody Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Peabody Township Carnegie Library
Peabody Township Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 25, 1987. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. It was listed as part of Carnegie Libraries of Kansas TR.
Peabody Township Library, formerly Peabody Township Carnegie Library, is a library that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1987. It is located in the Downtown Historic District of Peabody, Kansas, United States.
More about the building →What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Peabody Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $108K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $77K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $108K 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 1,333 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walton Township | Walton Community Library | 7.6 | 25 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Peabody Township | Peabody Township Library | 2.8 | 29 | A− |
| Catlin Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Fairmount 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Peabody Township 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 Peabody Township
Does Peabody Township have a public library?
Yes. Peabody Township Library, 214 N. Walnut, serves Peabody Township’s 1,112 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Peabody Township 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 Peabody Township’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Peabody Township’s civic life grade?
A− Peabody Township is ahead of 83% 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 Peabody 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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.