Photo: SharonPapierdreams · CC BY-SA 4.0Vermillion’s library lends 18 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Vermillion Public Library serves Vermillion’s 79 residents. Last year it lent 1,597 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,046 visits.
What Vermillion’s library is like
Kansas pays a big share
78% of the budget comes from the state, and 22% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
More library cards than residents
102 cards for 79 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 ↓
Vermillion uses its library more than almost any town its size
Vermillion Public Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 18 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 94% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Busy on a lean budget
Vermillion Public Library spends $23 per resident, less than 88% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). It’s still busier than 96% of them. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 57% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. 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 Vermillion’s civic life grade
Vermillion isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
10 programs a year
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Vermillion Public Library serves 79 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1,597 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 3,033 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
139 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Vermillion Public Library, 102 1/2 Main Street, Vermillion.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Vermillion? 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 $16.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Vermillion cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $1,832.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $30K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1,832 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 102 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Vermillion
Does Vermillion have a public library?
Yes. Vermillion Public Library, 102 1/2 Main Street, serves Vermillion’s 79 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 13 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Vermillion 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 Vermillion’s library?
It logged 13.2 visits and lent 20.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Vermillion’s civic life grade?
Vermillion isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Vermillion.
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.