Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Pratt’s library logs 8.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Pratt Public Library serves 9,082 people in and around Pratt. Last year it lent 55K books, movies and e-books and logged 76K visits.
Pratt’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
10,112 cards for 9,082 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Pratt Public Library logs 8.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 73% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
14,000 people came to the system’s 648 programs last year: 1.5 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 90% of similar-size libraries. 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; Pratt Public Library serves 9,082 people in and around Pratt, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Pratt’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Pratt is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #31 of 149 in Kansas. Pratt is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Pratt’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
45 community nonprofits are registered in Pratt
6.8 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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.3%
8.3% of Pratt’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 Pratt’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Pratt Public Library serves 9,082 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pratt Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
55K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,370 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Pratt Public Library, 401 S. Jackson, Pratt.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pratt Public Library branch.
New in Pratt? 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 $1.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pratt cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $522K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $915K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $522K 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 10,112 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pratt | Pratt Public Library fine-free | — | 43 | A− |
| Township 7 | 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.
- System-wide. Pratt Public Library serves 9,082 people in and around Pratt, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Pratt.
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 Pratt
Does Pratt have a public library?
Yes. Pratt Public Library, 401 S. Jackson, serves 9,082 people in and around Pratt (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pratt 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 Pratt’s library?
It logged 8.3 visits and lent 6.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Pratt’s civic life grade?
A− Pratt is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life, #31 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 Pratt.
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.