Photo: Peter K. · CC BY-SA 3.0Ocheyedan’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Ocheyedan Public Library serves Ocheyedan’s 630 residents. Last year it lent 1,130 print books and media and logged 1,000 visits.
What Ocheyedan’s library is like
A small-town library
Ocheyedan Public Library serves 630 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 36 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Ocheyedan Public Library offered 5 programs last year, 7.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Ocheyedan’s civic life grade
Ocheyedan 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 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ocheyedan Public Library serves 630 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Ocheyedan Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Books and media off the shelf
1,130 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 9,588 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
5 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Ocheyedan last year.
Find it
Ocheyedan Public Library, 874 Main St., Ocheyedan.
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 Ocheyedan cardholder borrows.
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 405 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Ocheyedan Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Ocheyedan
Does Ocheyedan have a public library?
Yes. Ocheyedan Public Library, 874 Main St., serves Ocheyedan’s 630 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ocheyedan Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ocheyedan’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 1.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ocheyedan’s civic life grade?
Ocheyedan 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 Ocheyedan.
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.