Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Oakley’s library logs 5.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Oakley Public Library serves Oakley’s 1,980 residents. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
Oakley’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
2,371 cards for 1,980 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. It’s 34% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
68% of the 177 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Oakley invests in its library
Oakley Public Library spends $112 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (97%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Oakley’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Oakley is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. Oakley’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Oakley
11.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.6%
5.6% of Oakley’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.7% in the typical Kansas 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 Oakley’s residents live; 2022.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
5,782 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Oakley Public Library serves 1,980 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Oakley last year.
Find it
Oakley Public Library, 700 West 3rd, Oakley.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Oakley? 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 $1.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oakley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $221K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $274K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $221K 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 2,371 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Oakley
Does Oakley have a public library?
Yes. Oakley Public Library, 700 West 3rd, serves Oakley’s 1,980 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oakley Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Oakley’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 8.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Oakley’s civic life grade?
B+ Oakley is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Oakley.
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.