Photo: Srudisell · CC BY-SA 4.0Topeka’s library runs 17 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library serves 173,973 people in and around Topeka. Last year it lent 1.8M books, movies and e-books and logged 455K visits.
The short version on Topeka’s library
Open about 78 hours a week
The Topeka branch is open about 78 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
A well-funded system
Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library spends $116 per resident a year, about three times the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 39% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
78% of the people it serves carry a library card
135,740 cards for 173,973 people, or 78%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
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; Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library serves 173,973 people in and around Topeka, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Topeka’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Topeka is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #57 of 149 in Kansas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #39. Topeka is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Topeka’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 →
601 community nonprofits are registered in Topeka
4.8 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 (134 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 25 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.2%
8.2% of Topeka’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 Topeka’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Topeka cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $29M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 135,740 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library serves 173,973 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 223 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
702,052 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 30 kids’ programs a week
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.
Find it
Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, 1515 SW 10th Ave, Topeka.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library branch.
New in Topeka? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topeka | Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library fine-free | — | 78 | B+ |
| Mission Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Topeka Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Tecumseh Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Soldier Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Williamsport Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Menoken Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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. Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library serves 173,973 people in and around Topeka, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Topeka.
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 Topeka
Does Topeka have a public library?
Yes. Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, 1515 SW 10th Ave, serves 173,973 people in and around Topeka (the survey’s count) and is open about 78 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Topeka and Shawnee County 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 Topeka’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 10.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Topeka’s civic life grade?
B+ Topeka is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #57 of 149 in Kansas. 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 Topeka.
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.