Odessa’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Dutton S. Peterson Memorial Library serves 2,229 people in and around Odessa. Last year it lent 5,247 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,154 visits.
What stands out about Dutton S Peterson Memorial Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Odessa’s civic life grade
Odessa 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 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Dutton S. Peterson Memorial Library serves 2,229 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dutton S. Peterson Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,247 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,124 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
Find it
Dutton S Peterson Memorial Library, 106 First St., Odessa.
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 Dutton S. Peterson Memorial Library branch.
New in Odessa? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Odessa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $104K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $104K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $104K 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 546 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Dutton S. Peterson Memorial Library serves 2,229 people in and around Odessa, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Odessa.
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 Odessa
Does Odessa have a public library?
Yes. Dutton S. Peterson Memorial Library, 106 First St., serves 2,229 people in and around Odessa (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dutton S. Peterson Memorial 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 Odessa’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Odessa’s civic life grade?
Odessa 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 Odessa.
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.