Valley Center Township has no public library of its own; the nearest is Sedgwick/Lillian Tear in Sedgwick, 3.8 miles away
Valley Center Township doesn’t have a public library of its own. The closest is Sedgwick/Lillian Tear in Sedgwick, 3.8 miles away. Many small-town libraries give cards to neighbors, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
BCivic lifeAhead of 63% of U.S. towns · #67 of 149 in Kansas. Nonprofits and volunteering.Getting a library card from Valley Center Township
Valley Center Township borrows from the libraries next door
Valley Center Township has no public library of its own, but four libraries are within 10 miles, the closest being Sedgwick/Lillian Tear in Sedgwick (3.8 miles). Many small-town libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead. Nearest libraries ↓
Valley Center Township isn’t the only town nearby without one
Park Township and Eagle Township don’t have a public library of their own either. Among the towns next door, Sedgwick Township (Sedgwick/Lillian Tear) and Grant Township (Valley Center Public Library) do. Libraries next door ↓
The closest isn’t the one open longest
Sedgwick/Lillian Tear is nearest, open about 25 hours a week. Park City Public Library, 7.9 miles away, is open about 51 hours a week, so it may be easier to fit in. Nearest libraries ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Distances are straight-line from the town center.
What’s behind Valley Center Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Valley Center Township is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #67 of 149 in Kansas. Valley Center Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Valley Center Township
4.2 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Valley Center 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 Valley Center Township’s residents live; 2022.
The closest is 3.8 miles away
Closest first, measured from the center of Valley Center Township. Each one’s hours, and whether it charges late fines.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grant Township | Valley Center Public Library | 6.4 | 42 | B− |
| Sedgwick Township | Sedgwick/Lillian Tear fine-free | 4.0 | 25 | — graded with its twin city |
| Park Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Eagle Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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 Valley Center Township
Does Valley Center Township have a public library?
No. The closest is Sedgwick/Lillian Tear in Sedgwick, 3.8 miles from the town center. Many libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
What is Valley Center Township’s civic life grade?
B Valley Center Township is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #67 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 Valley Center 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.