Photo: Freeholdman12 · CC BY 4.0Kissimmee’s library is a branch of Osceola Library System, which lends less per resident than 80% of systems its size
Kissimmee’s library is the Hart Memorial Central Library & Ray Shanks Law Library, a branch of Osceola Library System, which serves 450,989 people and lent 807K items last year.
The short version on Kissimmee’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, the Osceola Library System sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Open about 69 hours a week
The Kissimmee branch is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Kissimmee’s library is a branch of Osceola Library System, so they cover the whole system (450,989 people), not just the Kissimmee branch.
What’s behind Kissimmee’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kissimmee is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #258 of 273 in Florida. Kissimmee is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Kissimmee’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Osceola Library System spends $18 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($40K–$67K) 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 →
172 community nonprofits are registered in Kissimmee
2.1 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 (118 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 22 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.7%
2.7% of Kissimmee’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 Kissimmee’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Osceola Library System serves 450,989 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Osceola Library System system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
807K 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 Kissimmee’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 24 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
Hart Memorial Central Library & Ray Shanks Law Library, 211 East Dakin Avenue, Kissimmee.
No late fees. Good at every Osceola Library System branch.
New in Kissimmee? 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 $2.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kissimmee cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $8.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.2M 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 104,454 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kissimmee | Hart Memorial Central Library & Ray Shanks Law Library fine-free | — | 69 | D− |
| Buenaventura Lakes | Buenaventura Lakes Branch Library fine-free | — | 69 | — unincorporated |
| Campbell | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Hart Memorial Central Library & Ray Shanks Law Library is one branch of Osceola Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 450,989 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 Kissimmee
Does Kissimmee have a public library?
Yes: Hart Memorial Central Library & Ray Shanks Law Library, 211 East Dakin Avenue, is a branch of Osceola Library System, which serves 450,989 people. The branch is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Osceola Library System fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Kissimmee’s library?
It logged 1.5 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 Kissimmee’s civic life grade?
D− Kissimmee is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #258 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 Kissimmee.
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.