Gray, William R., Photography Studio and Residence · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0St. John’s library logs 20 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Ida Long Goodman Memorial Library serves St. John’s 1,171 residents. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
What St. John’s library is like
More library cards than residents
1,634 cards for 1,171 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 ↓
Ten times the programs of a typical library its size
Ida Long Goodman Memorial Library ran 715 programs last year, about 14 a week. That’s 611 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
St. John uses its library more than almost any town its size
Ida Long Goodman Memorial Library logs 20 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 87% 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 70% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 30 items per child in St. John last year. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
75% of the 715 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.6 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 St. John’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, St. John is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Ida Long Goodman Memorial Library logged 20.4 visits per resident in FY2024, #26 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in St. John
12.8 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.5%
7.5% of St. John’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 St. John’s residents live; 2022.
About 10 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 St. John last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ida Long Goodman Memorial Library serves 1,171 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 40K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
2,406 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ida Long Goodman Memorial Library, 406 N. Monroe Ave, St. John.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in St. John? 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 $2.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average St. John cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $94K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $202K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $94K 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 1,634 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. St. John’s 23,906 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 St. John
Does St. John have a public library?
Yes. Ida Long Goodman Memorial Library, 406 N. Monroe Ave, serves St. John’s 1,171 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ida Long Goodman Memorial 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 St. John’s library?
It logged 20.4 visits and lent 12.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is St. John’s civic life grade?
A St. John is ahead of 92% 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 St. John.
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.