Photo: Scott5114 · CC BY-SA 3.0Meeker’s library logs 7.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Meeker Public Library serves Meeker’s 1,020 residents. Last year it lent 3,654 books, movies and e-books and logged 8,030 visits.
Meeker’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
1,373 cards for 1,020 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 83% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 21%. The building also logs about 1 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
A small-town library
Meeker Public Library serves 1,020 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 32 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Most of Meeker’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 51% of loans, more per resident than at 71% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 49%. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Meeker’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Meeker is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; Meeker’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Meeker
1.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.7%
7.7% of Meeker’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 Meeker’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Meeker Public Library serves 1,020 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
51% of borrowing is digital
3,654 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
1,863 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
20 programs a year
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 Meeker last year.
Find it
Meeker Public Library, 616 W Carl Hubbell Boulevard, Meeker.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Meeker? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Meeker cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $70K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $63K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $70K 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 1,373 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. Meeker Public 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 Meeker
Does Meeker have a public library?
Yes. Meeker Public Library, 616 W Carl Hubbell Boulevard, serves Meeker’s 1,020 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Meeker 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 Meeker’s library?
It logged 7.9 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Meeker’s civic life grade?
B− Meeker is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Meeker.
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.