First National Bank Building · Photo: Melodibit · CC BY-SA 3.0Stratford’s library lends 15 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Stratford Chandler-Watts Library serves Stratford’s 1,411 residents. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 17K visits.
Stratford’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 91% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 52 items per child in Stratford last year. Kids & programs ↓
Stratford uses its library more than almost any town its size
Stratford Chandler-Watts Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 15 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Stratford Chandler-Watts Library serves 1,411 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 24 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 ↓
Nearly everyone in Stratford has a card
1,202 cards for 1,411 people, or 85%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 7% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 47% 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Stratford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Stratford is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; Stratford’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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Stratford
2.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.1%
14.1% of Stratford’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 Stratford’s residents live; 2022.
53 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 Stratford last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Stratford Chandler-Watts Library serves 1,411 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
1,531 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Stratford Chandler-Watts Library, 340 N Oak, Stratford.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Stratford? 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 $3.73 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stratford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $79K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $295K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $79K 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 1,202 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. Stratford Chandler-Watts 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 Stratford
Does Stratford have a public library?
Yes. Stratford Chandler-Watts Library, 340 N Oak, serves Stratford’s 1,411 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stratford Chandler-Watts Library 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 Stratford’s library?
It logged 12.2 visits and lent 16.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Stratford’s civic life grade?
A− Stratford is ahead of 82% 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 Stratford.
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.