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US Post Office-Oxford NY Dec 09Photo: Doug Kerr from Upstate New York · CC BY-SA 2.0
Oxford Memorial Library

Oxford’s library lends 2.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size

Oxford Memorial Library serves 4,917 people in and around Oxford. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.

8 Fort Hill Park, Oxford 13830 · about 53 hours a week
B+Civic lifeAhead of 71% of U.S. towns · #206 of 751 in New York. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (607) 843-6146 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
13K
2.6 per resident
Visits a year
10K
2.1 per resident · Below typical (3)
Programs & events
107
about 2 a week · 1,849 attended
Cardholders
30%
1,455 cards
Open
53 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

Oxford’s library, in brief

Below typical on every measure

Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Oxford Memorial Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓

Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf

Only 8% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 84% of similar-size libraries. 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; Oxford Memorial Library serves 4,917 people in and around Oxford, and its numbers cover all of them.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Oxford’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Oxford is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #206 of 751 in New York. Oxford is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Oxford’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.

B+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Oxford’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureA−Community nonprofits5.4 per 1,000 residents · NY towns 4.2 · U.S. 3.7B−Volunteering7.8% of adults 25–44 · NY towns 7.4% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 71%
FewerMore
New York towns we grade (751)Ahead of 73%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $46K–$76K (7,927)Ahead of 69%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Oxford is small (3,562 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

19 community nonprofits are registered in Oxford

5.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture41.07 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation20.42 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans82.12 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services10.25 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education20.42 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.25 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other30.87 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

7.8%

7.8% of Oxford’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 Oxford’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.1 visits · typical 3Lower than 66%
Borrowing per resident 2.4 print items · typical 3.8Lower than 71%
Digital borrowing 0.2 e-items · typical 1Lower than 84%
Kids’ borrowing 0.8 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 72%
Program attendance 0.4 attendees · typical 0.5Lower than 60%
Programs offered 21.8 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Lower than 68%
Cardholders 30% of residents · typical 42%Lower than 70%
Spending $40 per resident · typical $43Lower than 54%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Oxford Memorial Library serves 4,917 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Oxford Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.

10K
visits
2.1 per resident
13K
loans, print + digital
2.6 per resident
107
programs & events
1,849 attended
1,455
library cards
30% of people served
Every open hour5items borrowed
Every week36people at a program
Every day4Wi-Fi sessions
3 staff (full-time equivalent)3 public computers
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

13Kloans
Books & media (adults) 60%Kids’ books & media 32%E-books, audio & streaming 8%
From your couch

1,045 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 1 kids’ program a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Oxford →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–544
Ages 6–118
Teens26
Adults16
All ages13
Little ones
0.8

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

4,127
kids’ books & media borrowed
1,849
people at programs
107
programs
The building

Find it

Oxford Memorial Library, 8 Fort Hill Park, Oxford.

Directions(607) 843-6146
53
hours open a week
5,729
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Oxford Memorial Library branch.

New in Oxford? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.13 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oxford cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$40 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $195K.

Local taxes 91%State 1%Gifts & other 8%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $221K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $195K 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 1,455 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

Guilford: no library of its ownCoventry: no library of its ownPreston: no library of its ownSmithville: no library of its ownGreene: 4.3 loans per residentNorwich: no library of its ownGuilfordCoventryPrestonSmithvilleGreeneNorwichOxford
12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
GreeneMoore Memorial Library4.354C+
OxfordOxford Memorial Library fine-free—53B+
GuilfordNone of its own——B
CoventryNone of its own——B+
PrestonNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
SmithvilleNone of its own——B
NorwichNone of its own——C−

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).

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Oxford Memorial Library serves 4,917 people in and around Oxford, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Oxford.

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 Oxford

Does Oxford have a public library?

Yes. Oxford Memorial Library, 8 Fort Hill Park, serves 4,917 people in and around Oxford (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Oxford 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 Oxford’s library?

It logged 2.1 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Oxford’s civic life grade?

B+ Oxford is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #206 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 Oxford.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.