Photo: Nyttend · Public domainCadiz’s library logs 3.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
John L. Street Public Library serves 14,369 people in and around Cadiz. Last year it lent 94K books, movies and e-books and logged 56K visits.
What stands out about John L. Street Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Cadiz’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cadiz is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #112 of 126 in Kentucky. Cadiz is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Cadiz’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($33K–$55K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Cadiz
2.4 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.1%
5.1% of Cadiz’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.6% in the typical Kentucky 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 Cadiz’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
John L. Street Public Library serves 14,369 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 38 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole John L. Street Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
94K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
26,631 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
John L. Street Public Library, 244 Main Street, Cadiz.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every John L. Street Public Library branch.
New in Cadiz? 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 $2.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cadiz cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $594K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $594K 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 16,128 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. John L. Street Public Library serves 14,369 people in and around Cadiz, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Cadiz.
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 Cadiz
Does Cadiz have a public library?
Yes. John L. Street Public Library, 244 Main Street, serves 14,369 people in and around Cadiz (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is John L. Street 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 Cadiz’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Cadiz’s civic life grade?
D Cadiz is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #112 of 126 in Kentucky. 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 Cadiz.
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.