Valley Center’s library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Valley Center Public Library serves Valley Center’s 7,347 residents. Last year it lent 47K books, movies and e-books and logged 50K visits.
The short version on Valley Center’s library
Valley Center out-borrows every town next door
At 6.4 loans per resident, Valley Center leads the four towns here. The closest is Wichita, at 4.3. Libraries next door ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 84% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 1% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 90% 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.
What’s behind Valley Center’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Valley Center is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #53 of 149 in Kansas. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
39 community nonprofits are registered in Valley Center
4.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.4%
7.4% of Valley Center’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’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Valley Center Public Library serves 7,347 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
47K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 41K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
576 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Valley Center last year.
Find it
Valley Center Public Library, 314 E. Clay St., Valley Center.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Valley Center? 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 $2.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Valley Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $319K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $753K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $319K 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 4,784 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Valley Center borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Center | Valley Center Public Library | 6.4 | 42 | B+ |
| Wichita | Advanced Learning Library fine-free | 4.3 | 57 | C− |
| Park City | Park City Public Library | 3.8 | 51 | C− |
| Kechi Township | Park City Public Library | 3.8 | 51 | D |
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
Does Valley Center have a public library?
Yes. Valley Center Public Library, 314 E. Clay St., serves Valley Center’s 7,347 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Valley Center Public 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 Valley Center’s library?
It logged 6.8 visits and lent 6.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Valley Center’s civic life grade?
B+ Valley Center is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #53 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.
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.