Photo: OKJaguar · CC BY-SA 4.0Perkins’ library logs 9.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Perkins Thomas-Wilhite Memorial Library serves Perkins’s 3,270 residents. Last year it lent 31K books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
The short version on Perkins’s library
More library cards than residents
4,489 cards for 3,270 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 ↓
Perkins ranks 2nd in Oklahoma for library use
Out of 60 Oklahoma towns with a library of their own, Perkins comes 2nd for visits per resident. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 66% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 11 items per child in Perkins last year. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 288 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. It’s 29% 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.
What’s behind Perkins’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Perkins is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #3 of 128 in Oklahoma. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Perkins’ 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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Perkins
8.9 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.0%
10.0% of Perkins’ 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 Perkins’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Perkins Thomas-Wilhite Memorial Library serves 3,270 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
31K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
8,972 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 Perkins last year.
Find it
Perkins Thomas-Wilhite Memorial Library, 101 E Thomas, Perkins.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Perkins? 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 $3.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Perkins cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $131K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $482K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $131K 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 4,489 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Perkins
Does Perkins have a public library?
Yes. Perkins Thomas-Wilhite Memorial Library, 101 E Thomas, serves Perkins’ 3,270 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Perkins Thomas-Wilhite Memorial 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 Perkins’ library?
It logged 9.2 visits and lent 9.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Perkins’ civic life grade?
A+ Perkins is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #3 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 Perkins.
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.