Photo: Zeist85 · Public domainOakwood’s library lends 29 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Wright Memorial Public Library serves 9,547 people in and around Oakwood. Last year it lent 364K books, movies and e-books and logged 125K visits.
What Oakwood’s library is like
More library cards than residents
15,496 cards for 9,547 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Wright Memorial Public Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 29 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
52% of the budget comes from the state, and 35% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 44% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 9.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. It’s 24% of all loans. 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; Wright Memorial Public Library serves 9,547 people in and around Oakwood, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Oakwood’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Oakwood is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #38 of 914 in Ohio. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
50 community nonprofits are registered in Oakwood
5.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.3%
11.3% of Oakwood’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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 Oakwood’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Wright Memorial Public Library serves 9,547 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 106 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Wright Memorial Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
364K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
87,138 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 2013
Wright Memorial Public Library, 1776 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Wright Memorial Public Library branch.
New in Oakwood? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Wright Library
Wright Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 24, 2013. It is significant for its architecture at the local level.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oakwood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 15,496 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.
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Wright Memorial Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Wright Memorial Public Library serves 9,547 people in and around Oakwood, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Oakwood.
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 Oakwood
Does Oakwood have a public library?
Yes. Wright Memorial Public Library, 1776 Far Hills Ave., serves 9,547 people in and around Oakwood (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wright Memorial 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 Oakwood’s library?
It logged 13.1 visits and lent 38.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Oakwood’s civic life grade?
A Oakwood is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #38 of 914 in Ohio. 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 Oakwood.
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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.