Gov. John Hopwood Mickey House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Osceola’s library runs 36 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Osceola Public Library serves Osceola’s 872 residents. Last year it lent 4,898 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,905 visits.
Osceola’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
873 cards for 872 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
Osceola Public Library serves 872 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 27 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 ↓
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 Osceola’s civic life grade
Osceola isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Osceola Public Library serves 872 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,898 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,556 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
31 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Osceola last year.
Find it
Osceola Public Library, 131 North Main, Osceola.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Osceola? 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 $1.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Osceola cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $43K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $79K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $43K 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 873 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 Osceola
Does Osceola have a public library?
Yes. Osceola Public Library, 131 North Main, serves Osceola’s 872 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Osceola Public 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 Osceola’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 5.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Osceola’s civic life grade?
Osceola isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Osceola.
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.