Photo: Sinneed · CC BY-SA 3.0Oak Grove’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
West Carroll Parish Library serves 9,254 people in and around Oak Grove. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
The short version on Oak Grove’s library
Few programs for a library this size
West Carroll Parish Library offered 9 programs last year, 1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
7,978 cards for 9,254 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. 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; West Carroll Parish Library serves 9,254 people in and around Oak Grove, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Oak Grove’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Oak Grove is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns. Oak Grove is graded on two of the three inputs. Oak Grove’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 ($38K–$64K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Oak Grove
4.3 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.2%
6.2% of Oak Grove’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical Louisiana 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 Oak Grove’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
West Carroll Parish Library serves 9,254 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole West Carroll Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,333 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
9 programs a year
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.
Find it
West Carroll Parish Library, 101 Marietta Street, Oak Grove.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every West Carroll Parish Library branch.
New in Oak Grove? 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 $1.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oak Grove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $293K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $425K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $293K 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 7,978 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. West Carroll Parish Library serves 9,254 people in and around Oak Grove, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Oak Grove.
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 Oak Grove
Does Oak Grove have a public library?
Yes. West Carroll Parish Library, 101 Marietta Street, serves 9,254 people in and around Oak Grove (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is West Carroll Parish Library 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 Oak Grove’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Oak Grove’s civic life grade?
C+ Oak Grove is ahead of 41% 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 Oak Grove.
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.