Rackett Grange Hall # 318 · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Oshkosh’s library runs 110 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Oshkosh Public Library serves Oshkosh’s 770 residents. Last year it lent 7,515 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,252 visits.
The short version on Oshkosh’s library
More library cards than residents
782 cards for 770 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
Oshkosh Public Library serves 770 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 29 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 ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 39% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
67% of the 85 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 16 were for children. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Oshkosh’s civic life grade
Oshkosh 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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
7,515 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,824 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
2,927 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Oshkosh Public Library serves 770 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
85 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 Oshkosh last year.
Find it
Oshkosh Public Library, 307 West 1st Street, Oshkosh.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Oshkosh? 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 $2.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oshkosh cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $57K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $126K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $57K 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 782 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 Oshkosh
Does Oshkosh have a public library?
Yes. Oshkosh Public Library, 307 West 1st Street, serves Oshkosh’s 770 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oshkosh 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 Oshkosh’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 9.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Oshkosh’s civic life grade?
Oshkosh 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 Oshkosh.
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.