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Onawa, IAPhoto: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0
Onawa Public Library

Onawa’s library logs 6.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size

Onawa Public Library serves Onawa’s 3,706 residents. Last year it lent 17K print books and media and logged 24K visits.

707 Iowa Ave W, Onawa 51040 · about 43 hours a week
B+Civic lifeAhead of 72% of U.S. towns · #75 of 138 in Iowa. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (712) 423-1733 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
17K
4.6 per resident
Visits a year
24K
6.6 per resident · Above typical (3)
Programs & events
271
about 5 a week · 4,799 attended
Cardholders
96%
3,559 cards
Open
43 hrs
a week
In brief

The short version on Onawa’s library

The library is a National Register landmark

Onawa Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. Today’s library there has 14,980 square feet. The building ↓

Nearly everyone in Onawa has a card

3,559 cards for 3,706 people, or 96%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓

A big collection for the borrowing it gets

Onawa Public Library holds 49,000 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.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Onawa’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Onawa is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #75 of 138 in Iowa. Onawa is graded on two of the three inputs. Onawa’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

B+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Onawa’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureA−Community nonprofits6.3 per 1,000 residents · IA towns 7.5 · U.S. 3.7B−Volunteering7.3% of adults 25–44 · IA towns 8.6% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 72%
FewerMore
Iowa towns we grade (138)Ahead of 46%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $47K–$78K (8,137)Ahead of 70%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Onawa is small (2,821 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

18 community nonprofits are registered in Onawa

6.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture20.70 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation41.41 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans62.11 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services10.35 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.35 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health20.70 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other20.70 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

7.3%

7.3% of Onawa’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Iowa 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 Onawa’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

About 2 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Onawa →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–522
Ages 6–1197
Teens6
Adults133
All ages13
Little ones
0.4

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
9

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Onawa last year.

4,799
people at programs
271
programs
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 6.6 visits · typical 3Higher than 84%
Borrowing per resident 4.6 print items · typical 3.8Higher than 58%
Kids’ borrowing 1.8 kids’ items · typical 1.6Higher than 55%
Program attendance 1.3 attendees · typical 0.5Higher than 87%
Programs offered 73.1 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Higher than 82%
Cardholders 96% of residents · typical 42%Higher than 89%
Spending $58 per resident · typical $43Higher than 68%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Onawa Public Library serves 3,706 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

24K
visits
6.6 per resident
17K
loans, print + digital
4.6 per resident
271
programs & events
4,799 attended
3,559
library cards
96% of people served
Every open hour8items borrowed
Every week92people at a program
Every day16Wi-Fi sessions
3 staff (full-time equivalent)6 public computers49K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

17K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

17Kloans
Books & media (adults) 60%Kids’ books & media 40%
How hard the shelves work
0.3×

Each of the 49K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.

The building

A National Register landmark since 1979

Onawa Public Library, 707 Iowa Ave W, Onawa.

Directions(712) 423-1733
43
hours open a week
14,980
square feet
49K
books & media
With a card

Ask at the desk about getting a card.

New in Onawa? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

Onawa Public Library
The building’s story

Onawa Public Library

Onawa Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct 1, 1979. It is significant for its architecture at the state level. Its architecture is described as Prairie School.

Onawa Public Library is located in Onawa, Iowa, United States. The public library began in 1902 when Judge Addison Oliver offered to buy the former Congregational Church for a library building, and funds to buy books and fixtures. His offer was accepted by the community, which also promised to maintain the facility as a free library.

More about the building →
What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.49 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Onawa cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$58 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $214K.

Local taxes 90%State 1%Gifts & other 8%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $320K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $214K 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 3,559 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

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.

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 Onawa

Does Onawa have a public library?

Yes. Onawa Public Library, 707 Iowa Ave W, serves Onawa’s 3,706 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Onawa Public Library fine-free?

It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Onawa’s library?

It logged 6.6 visits and lent 4.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Onawa’s civic life grade?

B+ Onawa is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #75 of 138 in Iowa. 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 Onawa.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.