Photo: Justin Cozart from Dallas, TX, USA · CC BY 2.0Bartlesville’s library logs 4.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Bartlesville Public Library serves Bartlesville’s 38,114 residents. Last year it lent 427K books, movies and e-books and logged 163K visits.
The short version on Bartlesville’s library
Bartlesville ranks 3rd in Oklahoma for borrowing
Out of 60 Oklahoma towns with a library of their own, Bartlesville comes 3rd for items borrowed per resident. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone in Bartlesville has a card
36,310 cards for 38,114 people, or 95%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
43% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 43% of loans, more per resident than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 57%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
Bartlesville Public Library is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 126 items go out. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
50% of the 614 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 275 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.
What’s behind Bartlesville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bartlesville is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #27 of 128 in Oklahoma. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Bartlesville’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
213 community nonprofits are registered in Bartlesville
5.6 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 (57 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.8%
8.8% of Bartlesville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.7% in the typical Oklahoma 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 Bartlesville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bartlesville Public Library serves 38,114 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 126 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
43% of borrowing is digital
427K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 83K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.9 times last year, on average.
185,494 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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, 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 Bartlesville last year.
Find it
Bartlesville Public Library, 600 S Johnstone, Bartlesville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bartlesville? 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 $3.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bartlesville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M 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 36,310 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bartlesville | Bartlesville Public Library | 11.2 | 65 | A− |
| Dewey | Dewey Tyler Memorial Library | 3.0 | 48 | A− |
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.
- 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 Bartlesville
Does Bartlesville have a public library?
Yes. Bartlesville Public Library, 600 S Johnstone, serves Bartlesville’s 38,114 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bartlesville 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 Bartlesville’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 11.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bartlesville’s civic life grade?
A− Bartlesville is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #27 of 128 in Oklahoma. 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 Bartlesville.
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.