Photo: Dylan Edwards · CC BY 4.0Rock Creek Township’s library is a branch of Meriden-Ozawkie Public Library, which lends more per resident than 66% of systems its size
Rock Creek Township’s library is the Library District #1, Jefferson County, a branch of Meriden-Ozawkie Public Library, which serves 4,426 people and lent 29K items last year.
What Rock Creek Township’s library is like
Programs draw a crowd
7,328 people came to the system’s 261 programs last year: 1.7 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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 80% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
The Meriden-Ozawkie Public Library system spends $90 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (97%) comes from local taxes. 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; Rock Creek Township’s library is a branch of Meriden-Ozawkie Public Library, so they cover the whole system (4,426 people), not just the Rock Creek Township branch.
What’s behind Rock Creek Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rock Creek Township is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #76 of 149 in Kansas. Rock Creek Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Rock Creek Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Rock Creek Township
4.7 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.1%
7.1% of Rock Creek 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 Rock Creek Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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.
Meriden-Ozawkie Public Library serves 4,426 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Meriden-Ozawkie Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
29K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,715 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Library District #1, Jefferson County, 7272 K-4 Hwy, Ste D, Meriden.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Meriden-Ozawkie Public Library branch.
New in Rock Creek Township? 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 $1.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rock Creek Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $398K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $542K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $398K 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 2,021 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware Township | Delaware Township Library fine-free | 5.8 | 45 | A |
| Rock Creek Township | Library District #1, Jefferson County fine-free | — | 48 | B |
| Ozawkie Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Kaw Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Fairview Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Soldier Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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. Library District #1, Jefferson County is one branch of Meriden-Ozawkie Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 4,426 people it serves.
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 Rock Creek Township
Does Rock Creek Township have a public library?
Yes: Library District #1, Jefferson County, 7272 K-4 Hwy, Ste D, is a branch of Meriden-Ozawkie Public Library, which serves 4,426 people. The branch is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Meriden-Ozawkie 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 Rock Creek Township’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Rock Creek Township’s civic life grade?
B Rock Creek Township is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life, #76 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 Rock Creek 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.