Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0Oakes’ library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Oakes School & Public Library serves 1,798 people in and around Oakes. Last year it lent 41K books, movies and e-books and logged 2,457 visits.
Oakes’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 67% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 86%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
38% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 59%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Oakes branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 14% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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; Oakes School & Public Library serves 1,798 people in and around Oakes, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Oakes’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Oakes is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. Oakes’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Oakes
15.6 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
12.3%
12.3% of Oakes’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.9% in the typical North Dakota 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 Oakes’ residents live; 2022.
26 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Oakes School & Public Library serves 1,798 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Oakes School & Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
41K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,677 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Oakes School & Public Library, 804 Main Avenue, Oakes.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Oakes School & Public Library branch.
New in Oakes? 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 $24.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oakes cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $23K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $574K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23K 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 1,192 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Oakes School & Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Oakes School & Public Library serves 1,798 people in and around Oakes, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Oakes.
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 Oakes
Does Oakes have a public library?
Yes. Oakes School & Public Library, 804 Main Avenue, serves 1,798 people in and around Oakes (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oakes School & Public 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 Oakes’ library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 22.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Oakes’ civic life grade?
A− Oakes is ahead of 76% 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 Oakes.
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.