Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0Oakville’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Watertown Library Association serves 22,274 people in and around Oakville. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 31K visits.
The short version on Oakville’s library
Open only about 19 hours a week
Watertown Library Association keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Silas Bronson Library in Waterbury, next door, is open about 56 hours a week. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Watertown Library Association offered 161 programs last year, 7.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Watertown Library Association serves more than Oakville
The library’s service area covers 22,274 people in and around Oakville, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Watertown Library Association holds 92,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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.
What’s behind Oakville’s civic life grade
Oakville 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 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Watertown Library Association serves 22,274 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 92K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
9,151 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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
Oakville Branch Library, 55 Davis Street, Watertown.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Oakville? 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 Oakville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $900K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $788K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $900K 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 10,536 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Oakville borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Oakville
Does Oakville have a public library?
Yes. Watertown Library Association, 55 Davis Street, serves 22,274 people in and around Oakville (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Watertown Library Association 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 Oakville’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Oakville’s civic life grade?
Oakville 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 Oakville.
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.