Henry Tilley House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Ransom’s library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Ransom Public Library serves Ransom’s 254 residents. Last year it lent 2,433 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,547 visits.
The short version on Ransom’s library
A small-town library
Ransom Public Library serves 254 residents with about 2 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 ↓
Open only about 22 hours a week
Ransom Public Library keeps short hours: about 22 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
People come to Ransom Public Library a lot
Ransom Public Library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 9.2 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Kansas pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 78% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A place to get online
Ransom Public Library logs about 10 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 3 public computers. That’s 14 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Ransom’s civic life grade
Ransom 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 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ransom Public Library serves 254 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
2,433 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,658 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
103 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
19 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.
Find it
Ransom Public Library, 411 S. Vermont, Ransom.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ransom? 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 $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ransom resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $24K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $50K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $24K 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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 254 people it serves ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Ransom
Does Ransom have a public library?
Yes. Ransom Public Library, 411 S. Vermont, serves Ransom’s 254 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ransom 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 Ransom’s library?
It logged 10.0 visits and lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ransom’s civic life grade?
Ransom 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 Ransom.
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.