Bank of Oberlin · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Oberlin’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Oberlin City Library serves Oberlin’s 1,605 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 17K visits.
What Oberlin’s library is like
More library cards than residents
1,884 cards for 1,605 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 ↓
A small-town library
Oberlin City Library serves 1,605 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 57 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 ↓
People come to Oberlin City Library a lot
Oberlin City Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 260 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 45 for ages 0–5. 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 Oberlin’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Oberlin is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. All three inputs put Oberlin near the top nationally; Oberlin’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
31 community nonprofits are registered in Oberlin
17.9 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
20.8%
20.8% of Oberlin’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 Oberlin’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Oberlin City Library serves 1,605 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
2,859 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Oberlin last year.
Find it
Oberlin City Library, 104 E. Oak, Oberlin.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Oberlin? 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 $3.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oberlin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $73K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $223K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $73K 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 1,884 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oberlin | Oberlin City Library | 8.4 | 57 | A+ |
| Liberty Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Center Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Oberlin Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Oberlin City Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Oberlin
Does Oberlin have a public library?
Yes. Oberlin City Library, 104 E. Oak, serves Oberlin’s 1,605 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oberlin City 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 Oberlin’s library?
It logged 10.7 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Oberlin’s civic life grade?
A+ Oberlin is among the top 1% 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 Oberlin.
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.