Cassius and Adelia Baker House · Photo: PowercatPark · CC BY-SA 3.0Wamego’s library logs 6.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Wamego Public Library serves Wamego’s 4,844 residents. Last year it lent 41K books, movies and e-books and logged 34K visits.
What Wamego’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 72% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 20 items per child in Wamego last year. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 305 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
7,630 people came to the library’s 305 programs last year: 1.6 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 91% 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.
What’s behind Wamego’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Wamego is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #5 of 149 in Kansas. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Wamego’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 →
43 community nonprofits are registered in Wamego
9.8 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.0%
10.0% of Wamego’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 Wamego’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 Wamego last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Wamego Public Library serves 4,844 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
41K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
7,778 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Wamego Public Library, 431 Lincoln Avenue, Wamego.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wamego? 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 $1.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wamego cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $354K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $688K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $354K 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 3,925 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wamego | Wamego Public Library | 8.6 | 45 | A+ |
| Wamego Township | Wamego Public Library | 8.6 | 45 | A |
| Wabaunsee Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Wamego
Does Wamego have a public library?
Yes. Wamego Public Library, 431 Lincoln Avenue, serves Wamego’s 4,844 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wamego 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 Wamego’s library?
It logged 6.9 visits and lent 8.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Wamego’s civic life grade?
A+ Wamego is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #5 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 Wamego.
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.