Photo: Chiefs190 · CC BY-SA 4.0Liberty’s library is a branch of Mid-Continent Public Library, which lends more per resident than 79% of systems its size
Liberty’s library is the Withers Branch, a branch of Mid-Continent Public Library, which serves 840,292 people and lent 1M items last year.
The short version on Liberty’s library
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 51% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 49%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Open about 69 hours a week
The Liberty branch is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
A well-funded system
The Mid-Continent Public Library system spends $82 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Liberty’s library is a branch of Mid-Continent Public Library, so they cover the whole system (840,292 people), not just the Liberty branch.
What’s behind Liberty’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Liberty is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #63 of 229 in Missouri. Liberty is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
140 community nonprofits are registered in Liberty
4.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (37 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.6%
9.6% of Liberty’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.3% in the typical Missouri 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 Liberty’s residents live; 2022.
51% of borrowing is digital
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,187,832 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Mid-Continent Public Library serves 840,292 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 91 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mid-Continent Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 122 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
Withers Branch, 1665 S Withers Rd, Liberty.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mid-Continent Public Library branch.
New in Liberty? 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 $2.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Liberty cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $69M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $154M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $69M 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 436,344 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty | Withers Branch | — | 69 | A− |
| Kansas City | Central Library fine-free | — | 58 | B |
| Claycomo | Claycomo Branch | — | 61 | C |
| Pleasant Valley | None of its own | — | — | C |
| River Bend | 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.
- System-wide. Withers Branch is one branch of Mid-Continent Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 840,292 people it serves.
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 Liberty
Does Liberty have a public library?
Yes: Withers Branch, 1665 S Withers Rd, is a branch of Mid-Continent Public Library, which serves 840,292 people. The branch is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mid-Continent 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 Liberty’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 12.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Liberty’s civic life grade?
A− Liberty is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #63 of 229 in Missouri. 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 Liberty.
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.