Photo: Urbanative · CC BY-SA 3.0Oklahoma City’s library is a branch of Metropolitan Library System, which lends more per resident than 81% of systems its size
Oklahoma City’s library is the Ronald J Norick Downtown Library, a branch of Metropolitan Library System, which serves 808,866 people and lent 9.3M items last year.
What Oklahoma City’s library is like
44% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 44% of loans, more per resident than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 56%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Open about 70 hours a week
The Oklahoma City branch is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Eight branches in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City has eight branches of the Metropolitan Library System, which serves 808,866 people across the area. One card works at all of them, and at every other branch in the system. The buildings ↓
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; Oklahoma City’s library is a branch of Metropolitan Library System, so they cover the whole system (808,866 people), not just the Oklahoma City branch.
What’s behind Oklahoma City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Oklahoma City is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #111 of 128 in Oklahoma State. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #196. Oklahoma City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($51K–$86K) 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 →
1,731 community nonprofits are registered in Oklahoma City
2.5 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 (610 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 107 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.1%
7.1% of Oklahoma City’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.7% in the typical Oklahoma State 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 Oklahoma City’s residents live; 2022.
44% of borrowing is digital
9.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,069,279 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Metropolitan Library System serves 808,866 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 147 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Metropolitan Library System system. The library’s own count.
About 78 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.
9 places to borrow in Oklahoma City
Ronald J Norick Downtown Library, 300 Park Avenue, Oklahoma City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Metropolitan Library System branch.
New in Oklahoma City? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Metropolitan Library System branches in Oklahoma City
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oklahoma City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $48M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $138M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $48M 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 420,711 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yukon | Yukon Mabel C. Fry Public Library | 8.7 | 64 | C+ |
| Tuttle | Tuttle Public Library | 1.1 | 36 | B |
| Oklahoma City | Ronald J Norick Downtown Library fine-free | — | 70 | C− |
| Midwest City | Midwest City Library fine-free | — | 70 | D |
| Edmond | Edmond Library fine-free | — | 70 | B+ |
| Newcastle | Newcastle Public Library | — | 61 | B+ |
| Del City | Del City Library fine-free | — | 70 | D |
| Jones | Jones Library fine-free | — | 52 | B+ |
| Moore | Moore Public Library | — | 72 | C− |
| Choctaw | Choctaw Library fine-free | — | 70 | B− |
| Spencer | None 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).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Ronald J Norick Downtown Library is one branch of Metropolitan Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 808,866 people it serves.
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 Oklahoma City
Does Oklahoma City have a public library?
Yes: Ronald J Norick Downtown Library, 300 Park Avenue, is a branch of Metropolitan Library System, which serves 808,866 people. The branch is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Metropolitan Library System 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 Oklahoma City’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 11.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Oklahoma City’s civic life grade?
C− Oklahoma City is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #111 of 128 in Oklahoma State. 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 Oklahoma 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.