Prairie Township’s library runs 192 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Randall Public Library serves 78 people in and around Prairie Township. Last year it lent 564 books, movies and e-books and logged 645 visits.
What Prairie Township’s library is like
Kansas pays a big share
55% of the budget comes from the state, and 45% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 12 hours a week
Randall Public Library keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Randall Public Library serves 78 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Prairie Township invests in its library
Randall Public Library spends $140 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Prairie Township’s civic life grade
Prairie Township 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 →
15 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Randall Public Library serves 78 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
564 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 3,951 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
36 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Randall Public Library, 107 Main St., Randall.
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 Prairie Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Prairie Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $11K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8,411 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11K 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 27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Township | Randall Public Library fine-free | 7.2 | 12 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Browns Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Allen Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Plum Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Solomon Rapids 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 Prairie Township
Does Prairie Township have a public library?
Yes. Randall Public Library, 107 Main St., serves 78 people in and around Prairie Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Randall Public 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 Prairie Township’s library?
It logged 8.3 visits and lent 7.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Prairie Township’s civic life grade?
Prairie Township 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 Prairie 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.