Photo: Fletcherspears · CC BY-SA 3.0Stillwater’s library lends 5.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Stillwater Public Library serves Stillwater’s 49,525 residents. Last year it lent 482K books, movies and e-books and logged 163K visits.
What Stillwater’s library is like
Stillwater’s kids borrow the most in Oklahoma
Out of 60 Oklahoma towns with a library of their own, Stillwater comes first for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #6 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 660 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 77% of similar-size libraries. 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 Stillwater’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Stillwater is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #42 of 128 in Oklahoma. Stillwater’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
276 community nonprofits are registered in Stillwater
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 (44 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.9%
8.9% of Stillwater’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 Stillwater’s residents live; 2022.
44% of borrowing is digital
482K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 86K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year, on average.
213,944 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Stillwater Public Library serves 49,525 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 150 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 9 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 Stillwater last year.
Find it
Stillwater Public Library, 1107 S Duck, Stillwater.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Stillwater? 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 $4.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stillwater cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 20,607 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 Stillwater
Does Stillwater have a public library?
Yes. Stillwater Public Library, 1107 S Duck, serves Stillwater’s 49,525 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stillwater 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 Stillwater’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 9.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Stillwater’s civic life grade?
B+ Stillwater is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #42 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 Stillwater.
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.