Photo: Rowen Hansen · CC BY-SA 4.0Sugar Creek’s library is a branch of Kansas City Public Library, which lends more per resident than 61% of systems its size
Sugar Creek’s library is the Sugar Creek Branch, a branch of Kansas City Public Library, which serves 232,498 people and lent 2.4M items last year.
The short version on Sugar Creek’s library
More library cards than residents
263,880 cards for 232,498 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 62% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 38%. What people borrow ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
The Kansas City Public Library system logs 5.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 99% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 3.9 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
The Kansas City Public Library system spends $131 per resident a year, about four times the typical $36 for a library its size. 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; Sugar Creek’s library is a branch of Kansas City Public Library, so they cover the whole system (232,498 people), not just the Sugar Creek branch.
What’s behind Sugar Creek’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sugar Creek is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #185 of 229 in Missouri. Sugar Creek is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$78K) 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Sugar Creek
3.0 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.
7.5%
7.5% of Sugar Creek’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 Sugar Creek’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 76 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kansas City Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Kansas City Public Library serves 232,498 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
62% of borrowing is digital
2.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,500,682 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 45 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
Sugar Creek Branch, 102 S Sterling Ave, Sugar Creek.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kansas City Public Library branch.
New in Sugar Creek? 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 $1.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sugar Creek cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $37M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 263,880 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar Creek | Sugar Creek Branch fine-free | — | 36 | C |
| Independence | North Independence Branch | — | 69 | C |
| Kansas City | Central Library fine-free | — | 58 | B |
| 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. Sugar Creek Branch is one branch of Kansas City Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 232,498 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 Sugar Creek
Does Sugar Creek have a public library?
Yes: Sugar Creek Branch, 102 S Sterling Ave, is a branch of Kansas City Public Library, which serves 232,498 people. The branch is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kansas City 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 Sugar Creek’s library?
It logged 5.7 visits and lent 10.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Sugar Creek’s civic life grade?
C Sugar Creek is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #185 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 Sugar Creek.
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.