Photo: SharonPapierdreams · CC BY-SA 4.0Seneca’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Seneca Free Library serves Seneca’s 2,142 residents. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
Seneca’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 62% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 34 items per child in Seneca last year. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Seneca Free Library serves 2,142 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 52 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 ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Seneca is a town of borrowers
Seneca Free Library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A place to get online
Seneca Free Library logs about 47 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 7 public computers. That’s 8 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 Seneca’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Seneca is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Seneca’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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Seneca
12.0 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.5%
9.5% of Seneca’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 Seneca’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Seneca last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Seneca Free Library serves 2,142 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
10,113 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Seneca Free Library, 606 Main Street, Seneca.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Seneca? 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 $3.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Seneca cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $182K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $551K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $182K 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 1,758 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seneca | Seneca Free Library fine-free | 15.9 | 52 | A+ |
| Richmond Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Mitchell 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.
- 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 Seneca
Does Seneca have a public library?
Yes. Seneca Free Library, 606 Main Street, serves Seneca’s 2,142 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Seneca Free 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 Seneca’s library?
It logged 7.4 visits and lent 15.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Seneca’s civic life grade?
A+ Seneca is ahead of 95% 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 Seneca.
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.