Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 4.0Fort Walton Beach’s library is a branch of Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative, which lends less per resident than 80% of systems its size
Fort Walton Beach’s library is the Fort Walton Beach Library, a branch of Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative, which serves 311,554 people and lent 562K items last year.
What Fort Walton Beach’s library is like
The Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative system is used less than most libraries its size
The Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative system records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Fort Walton Beach’s library is a branch of Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative, so they cover the whole system (311,554 people), not just the Fort Walton Beach branch.
What’s behind Fort Walton Beach’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fort Walton Beach is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #163 of 273 in Florida. Fort Walton Beach is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Fort Walton Beach’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative spends $18 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($51K–$86K) 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 →
72 community nonprofits are registered in Fort Walton Beach
3.4 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 (22 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.7%
4.7% of Fort Walton Beach’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 Fort Walton Beach’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative serves 311,554 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 41 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
562K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Fort Walton Beach’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 26 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
Fort Walton Beach Library, 185 Miracle Strip Parkway Southeast, Fort Walton Beach.
No late fees. Good at every Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative branch.
New in Fort Walton Beach? 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 $1.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fort Walton Beach cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.6M 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 39,130 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Walton Beach | Fort Walton Beach Library fine-free | — | 45 | C− |
| Mary Esther | Mary Esther Public Library fine-free | — | 42 | D |
| Wright | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Ocean City | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Hurlburt Field | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Cinco Bayou | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Fort Walton Beach Library is one branch of Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 311,554 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 Fort Walton Beach
Does Fort Walton Beach have a public library?
Yes: Fort Walton Beach Library, 185 Miracle Strip Parkway Southeast, is a branch of Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative, which serves 311,554 people. The branch is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fort Walton Beach’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Fort Walton Beach’s civic life grade?
C− Fort Walton Beach is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #163 of 273 in Florida. 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 Fort Walton Beach.
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.