Photo: duggar11 · CC BY 2.0Sulphur’s library is a branch of Southern Oklahoma Library System, which lends more per resident than 93% of systems its size
Sulphur’s library is the Sulphur - Mary E Parker Memorial Library, a branch of Southern Oklahoma Library System, which serves 97,387 people and lent 1.2M items last year.
What Sulphur’s library is like
Busy on a lean budget
The Southern Oklahoma Library System spends $17 per resident, less than 85% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). It’s still borrowed from more than 77% of them. What your card is worth ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
The Southern Oklahoma Library System lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
90,359 cards for 97,387 people, or 93%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 4% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 80% 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; Sulphur’s library is a branch of Southern Oklahoma Library System, so they cover the whole system (97,387 people), not just the Sulphur branch.
What’s behind Sulphur’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sulphur is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #15 of 128 in Oklahoma. Sulphur is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Sulphur
5.3 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.9%
10.9% of Sulphur’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 Sulphur’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
42,961 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.
Southern Oklahoma Library System serves 97,387 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 91 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Southern Oklahoma Library System system. The library’s own count.
About 13 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.
Find it
Sulphur - Mary E Parker Memorial Library, 500 West Broadway, Sulphur.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Southern Oklahoma Library System branch.
New in Sulphur? 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 $11.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sulphur cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 90,359 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Sulphur - Mary E Parker Memorial Library is one branch of Southern Oklahoma Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 97,387 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 Sulphur
Does Sulphur have a public library?
Yes: Sulphur - Mary E Parker Memorial Library, 500 West Broadway, is a branch of Southern Oklahoma Library System, which serves 97,387 people. The branch is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Southern Oklahoma 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 Sulphur’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 12.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Sulphur’s civic life grade?
A Sulphur is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #15 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 Sulphur.
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.