Photo: Jauerback · CC BY-SA 3.0Oswego’s library lends 9.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Oswego Public Library District serves 70,508 people in and around Oswego. Last year it lent 646K print books and media and logged 214K visits.
Oswego’s library, in brief
Oswego out-borrows every town next door
At 9.2 loans per resident, Oswego leads the four towns here. The closest is Montgomery, at 9.2. Libraries next door ↓
Open about 67 hours a week
Oswego Public Library District is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 93 items go out. The building ↓
Oswego Public Library District serves more than Oswego
The library’s service area covers 70,508 people in and around Oswego, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. 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.
What’s behind Oswego’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Oswego is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #488 of 754 in Illinois. Oswego is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Oswego’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($93K–$155K) 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 →
91 community nonprofits are registered in Oswego
2.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (27 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.
7.9%
7.9% of Oswego’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois 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 Oswego’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
646K 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 Oswego’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 303K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Oswego Public Library District serves 70,508 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 93 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 8 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
Oswego Public Library District, 32 West Jefferson Street, Oswego.
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 $2.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oswego cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.7M 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 25,919 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Oswego borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oswego | Oswego Public Library District fine-free | 9.2 | 67 | C |
| Montgomery | Montgomery Campus fine-free | 9.2 | 67 | C− |
| Aurora | Aurora Public Library District fine-free | 5.1 | 66 | C− |
| Yorkville | Yorkville Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 55 | B |
| Boulder Hill | 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. Illinois libraries often don’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 Oswego
Does Oswego have a public library?
Yes. Oswego Public Library District, 32 West Jefferson Street, serves 70,508 people in and around Oswego (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oswego Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Oswego’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 9.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Oswego’s civic life grade?
C Oswego is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #488 of 754 in Illinois. 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 Oswego.
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.