US Post Office-Sabetha · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Sabetha’s library logs 19 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Mary Cotton Public Library serves Sabetha’s 2,493 residents. Last year it lent 55K books, movies and e-books and logged 48K visits.
What Sabetha’s library is like
Sabetha uses its library more than almost any town its size
Mary Cotton Public Library logs 19 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 20 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 97% 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 76% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 65 items per child in Sabetha last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
93% of the 239 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.1 a week for ages 0–5. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Sabetha’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sabetha is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Mary Cotton Public Library logged 19.4 visits per resident in FY2024, #32 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Sabetha
10.5 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.0%
6.0% of Sabetha’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 Sabetha’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 Sabetha last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mary Cotton Public Library serves 2,493 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
55K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
4,806 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mary Cotton Public Library, 915 Virginia, Sabetha.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sabetha? 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 $3.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sabetha cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $238K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $788K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $238K 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 1,990 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sabetha | Mary Cotton Public Library fine-free | 22.3 | 51 | A− |
| Rock Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Morrill Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Walnut Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Berwick Township | 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.
- Visits count everyone. Sabetha’s 48,469 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 Sabetha
Does Sabetha have a public library?
Yes. Mary Cotton Public Library, 915 Virginia, serves Sabetha’s 2,493 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mary Cotton 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 Sabetha’s library?
It logged 19.4 visits and lent 22.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Sabetha’s civic life grade?
A− Sabetha is ahead of 85% 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 Sabetha.
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.