Photo: CletusDitto · CC BY-SA 3.0Jayton’s library logs 5.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Kent County Library serves 734 people in and around Jayton. Last year it lent 1,278 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,878 visits.
What Jayton’s library is like
More library cards than residents
774 cards for 734 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Kent County Library lends 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, fewer than 89% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. 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; Kent County Library serves 734 people in and around Jayton, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Jayton’s civic life grade
Jayton 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Kent County Library serves 734 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Kent County Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kent County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,278 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
466 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
44 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Kent County Library, 156 W 4th St., Jayton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kent County Library branch.
New in Jayton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jayton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $43K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $23K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $43K 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 774 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Kent County Library serves 734 people in and around Jayton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Jayton.
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 Jayton
Does Jayton have a public library?
Yes. Kent County Library, 156 W 4th St., serves 734 people in and around Jayton (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kent County 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 Jayton’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Jayton’s civic life grade?
Jayton 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 Jayton.
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.