Edwin Smith House · Photo: Lefibreguy · CC BY-SA 4.0Wellington’s library runs 46 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Wellington Public serves Wellington’s 7,568 residents. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
What Wellington’s library is like
The library is a National Register landmark
Wellington Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Today’s library there has 8,928 square feet. The building ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Wellington Public holds 38,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. 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 Wellington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Wellington is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #111 of 149 in Kansas. Wellington’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$63K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Wellington
4.7 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.7%
4.7% of Wellington’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 Wellington’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1987
Wellington Public, 121 West 7th, Wellington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Wellington? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Wellington Carnegie Library
Wellington Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 25, 1987. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. It was listed as part of Carnegie Libraries of Kansas TR.
The Wellington Carnegie Library, located at 121 W. Seventh in Wellington, Kansas, is a Carnegie library built in c.1916. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. It is one of 63 Carnegie libraries built in Kansas during the early 20th century. It is Classical Revival in style.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Wellington Public serves 7,568 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 38K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
7,028 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Wellington last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wellington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $308K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $440K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $308K 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 4,856 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington | Wellington Public fine-free | 3.4 | 55 | C |
| Wellington Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Osborne Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Downs Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Avon 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 Wellington
Does Wellington have a public library?
Yes. Wellington Public, 121 West 7th, serves Wellington’s 7,568 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wellington Public 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 Wellington’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Wellington’s civic life grade?
C Wellington is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #111 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 Wellington.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.