Photo: United States Census Bureau, modified by User:FUBAR007 · Public domainSherman Township’s library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Andale District Library serves 2,002 people in and around Sherman Township. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 2,926 visits.
The short version on Sherman Township’s library
Open only about 15 hours a week
The Sherman Township branch keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
More library cards than residents
2,014 cards for 2,002 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 78% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 81% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Andale District Library serves 2,002 people in and around Sherman Township, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Sherman Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sherman Township is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Andale District Library spends $26 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($78K–$130K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Sherman Township
2.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
8.0%
8.0% of Sherman 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 Sherman Township’s residents live; 2022.
89 programs a year
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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Andale District Library serves 2,002 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Andale District Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,498 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Andale District Library, 328 Main St., Andale.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Andale District Library branch.
New in Sherman 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 $3.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sherman Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $52K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $201K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $52K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 2,014 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Plain Township | Garden Plain Community Library | 9.1 | 31 | C+ |
| Union Township | Colwich Community Library | 7.6 | 34 | B+ |
| Greeley Township | Mt. Hope Public Library fine-free | 2.6 | 24 | B |
| Sherman Township | Andale District Library | — | 15 | C− |
| Sumner 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.
- System-wide. Andale District Library serves 2,002 people in and around Sherman Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sherman Township.
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 Sherman Township
Does Sherman Township have a public library?
Yes. Andale District Library, 328 Main St., serves 2,002 people in and around Sherman Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Andale District Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sherman Township’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 6.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Sherman Township’s civic life grade?
C− Sherman Township is ahead of 21% 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 Sherman 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.