Photo: Smallbones · Public domainOwensboro’s library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Daviess County Public Library District serves 103,458 people in and around Owensboro. Last year it lent 777K books, movies and e-books and logged 422K visits.
What Owensboro’s library is like
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Daviess County Public Library District logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Open about 72 hours a week
The Owensboro branch is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Daviess County Public Library District ran 2,325 programs last year, about 45 a week. That’s 22 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 54,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 2,325 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 30 a week 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; Daviess County Public Library District serves 103,458 people in and around Owensboro, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Owensboro’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Owensboro is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #66 of 126 in Kentucky. Owensboro is graded on two of the three inputs. Owensboro’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) 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 →
289 community nonprofits are registered in Owensboro
4.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (76 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.3%
5.3% of Owensboro’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.6% in the typical Kentucky 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 Owensboro’s residents live; 2022.
About 32 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Daviess County Public Library District serves 103,458 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 207 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Daviess County Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
777K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
217,977 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Daviess County Public Library District, 2020 Frederica Street, Owensboro.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Daviess County Public Library District branch.
New in Owensboro? 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 $2.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Owensboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.4M 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 76,886 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owensboro | Daviess County Public Library District fine-free | — | 72 | C+ |
| Ohio Township | Spencer County Public Library | — | 55 | B+ |
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.
- System-wide. Daviess County Public Library District serves 103,458 people in and around Owensboro, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Owensboro.
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 Owensboro
Does Owensboro have a public library?
Yes. Daviess County Public Library District, 2020 Frederica Street, serves 103,458 people in and around Owensboro (the survey’s count) and is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Daviess County Public Library District 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 Owensboro’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 7.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Owensboro’s civic life grade?
C+ Owensboro is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on civic life, #66 of 126 in Kentucky. 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 Owensboro.
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.