Photo: TulGuy · CC BY 4.0Kansas’ library is a branch of Eastern Oklahoma Library System, which lends less per resident than 75% of systems its size
Kansas’s library is the Kansas Public Library, a branch of Eastern Oklahoma Library System, which serves 236,086 people and lent 694K items last year.
What stands out about Kansas Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Kansas’ civic life grade
Kansas isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Eastern Oklahoma Library System serves 236,086 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Eastern Oklahoma Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
694K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
224,936 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 31 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
Kansas Public Library, 200 W. Tulsa Ave, Kansas.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Eastern Oklahoma Library System branch.
New in Kansas? 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 $1.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kansas cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6M 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 79,603 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | Kansas Public Library fine-free | — | 40 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Twin Oaks | 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. Kansas Public Library is one branch of Eastern Oklahoma Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 236,086 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 Kansas
Does Kansas have a public library?
Yes: Kansas Public Library, 200 W. Tulsa Ave, is a branch of Eastern Oklahoma Library System, which serves 236,086 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Eastern Oklahoma Library System 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 Kansas’ library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Kansas’ civic life grade?
Kansas isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Kansas.
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.