Photo: Kaethesson · CC BY-SA 3.0Oswego’s library lends 5.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Oswego Public serves Oswego’s 1,637 residents. Last year it lent 9,649 books, movies and e-books and logged 7,391 visits.
Oswego’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
2,814 cards for 1,637 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 ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
41% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 40%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Oswego Public serves 1,637 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 28 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Oswego Public Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987. Today’s library there has 7,144 square feet. The building ↓
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 Oswego’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Oswego is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Oswego
4.1 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.3%
8.3% of Oswego’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 Oswego’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Oswego Public serves 1,637 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
9,649 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
1,038 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
43 programs a year
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 Oswego last year.
A National Register landmark since 1987
Oswego Public, 704 Fourth Street, Oswego.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Oswego? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Oswego Public Carnegie Library
Oswego Public Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 25, 1987. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. It was listed as part of Carnegie Libraries of Kansas TR.
Oswego Public Library (OPL) is a Carnegie Library located in Oswego, Kansas, United States. It is a member of the Southeast Kansas Library System, a consortium of over 100 independent libraries in Southeast Kansas that provides services to member libraries such as inter-library loan.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oswego cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $93K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $153K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $93K 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 2,814 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 Oswego
Does Oswego have a public library?
Yes. Oswego Public, 704 Fourth Street, serves Oswego’s 1,637 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oswego Public fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Oswego’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 5.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Oswego’s civic life grade?
B+ Oswego is ahead of 68% 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 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. 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.