Hedlund Motor Company Building · Photo: Crimsonedge34 · CC BY-SA 3.0Elk City’s library logs 4.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Elk City Carnegie Library serves Elk City’s 11,279 residents. Last year it lent 61K books, movies and e-books and logged 48K visits.
What Elk City’s library is like
More library cards than residents
11,919 cards for 11,279 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 246 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 64% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 56% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans, more per resident than at 79% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 59%, much of it kids’ books. 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.
What’s behind Elk City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Elk City is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #108 of 128 in Oklahoma. Library visits hold the grade up; Elk City’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$64K) 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Elk City
2.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.4%
6.4% of Elk City’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 Elk City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Elk City Carnegie Library serves 11,279 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
41% of borrowing is digital
61K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
25,173 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Elk City last year.
Find it
Elk City Carnegie Library, 221 West Broadway Ave, Elk City.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Elk City? 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 $2.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elk City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $391K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $984K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $391K 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 11,919 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Elk City Carnegie Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Elk City
Does Elk City have a public library?
Yes. Elk City Carnegie Library, 221 West Broadway Ave, serves Elk City’s 11,279 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elk City Carnegie 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 Elk City’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Elk City’s civic life grade?
C Elk City is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #108 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 Elk City.
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.