Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Oswego’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Oswego School District Public Library serves 31,584 people in and around Oswego. Last year it lent 68K print books and media and logged 51K visits.
Oswego’s library, in brief
The branch is a National Register landmark
Oswego City Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1971. Today’s library there has 24,000 square feet. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 373 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.5 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Oswego School District Public Library serves 31,584 people in and around Oswego, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Oswego’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Oswego is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #555 of 751 in New York. Oswego is graded on two of the three inputs. Oswego’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 ($40K–$66K) 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 →
67 community nonprofits are registered in Oswego
3.9 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.5%
5.5% of Oswego’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Oswego’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1971
Oswego School District Public Library, 120 East Second Street, Oswego.
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 Oswego School District Public Library branch.
New in Oswego? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Oswego City Library
Oswego City Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 22, 1971. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the national level. Its architecture is described as Castellated.
Oswego City Library is a historic library building in Oswego, New York. It has also been known as the Oswego School District Public Library. It was built in about 1855 and is a two-story brick structure over a full basement. It features a distinctive castellated style with exterior battlements, machicolations, tower, turrets, corbels, and arcaded windows.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Oswego School District Public Library serves 31,584 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Oswego School District Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
68K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 kids’ programs 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oswego cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 10,033 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oswego | Oswego School District Public Library fine-free | — | 56 | C |
| Minetto | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Scriba | None of its own | — | — | C |
| SUNY Oswego | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Oswego School District Public Library serves 31,584 people in and around Oswego, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Oswego.
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 Oswego
Does Oswego have a public library?
Yes. Oswego School District Public Library, 120 East Second Street, serves 31,584 people in and around Oswego (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oswego School District 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 Oswego’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Oswego’s civic life grade?
C Oswego is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #555 of 751 in New York. 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 Oswego.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.