Photo: Brian Hall · CC BY-SA 3.0Rossville’s library logs 16 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Rossville Community Library serves 1,885 people in and around Rossville. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
What Rossville’s library is like
Rossville uses its library more than almost any town its size
Rossville Community Library logs 16 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 57% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 393 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
9,567 people came to the library’s 393 programs last year: 5.1 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
32% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 66%. 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 Rossville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rossville is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. Rossville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Rossville’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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Rossville
5.4 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.
7.8%
7.8% of Rossville’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 Rossville’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Rossville Community Library serves 1,885 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
4,135 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Rossville Community Library, 407 Main, Rossville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rossville? 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 $3.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rossville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $160K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $517K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $160K 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 1,412 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Rossville’s 29,524 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Rossville
Does Rossville have a public library?
Yes. Rossville Community Library, 407 Main, serves 1,885 people in and around Rossville (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rossville Community 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 Rossville’s library?
It logged 15.7 visits and lent 13.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Rossville’s civic life grade?
B+ Rossville is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Rossville.
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.