Photo: Nyttend · Public domainQuinter’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Jay Johnson Public Library serves Quinter’s 948 residents. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
What Quinter’s library is like
More library cards than residents
1,443 cards for 948 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 ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 60% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Quinter last year. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Jay Johnson Public Library serves 948 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 37 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 ↓
People come to Jay Johnson Public Library a lot
Jay Johnson Public Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 8.7 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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 Quinter’s civic life grade
Quinter 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Jay Johnson Public Library serves 948 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
3,559 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Quinter last year.
Find it
Jay Johnson Public Library, 411 Main Street, Quinter.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Quinter? 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 $1.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Quinter cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $97K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $189K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $97K 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 1,443 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Quinter
Does Quinter have a public library?
Yes. Jay Johnson Public Library, 411 Main Street, serves Quinter’s 948 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jay Johnson 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 Quinter’s library?
It logged 11.3 visits and lent 12.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Quinter’s civic life grade?
Quinter 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 Quinter.
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.