Photo: Caleb Long · CC BY-SA 2.5Tahlequah’s library is a branch of Eastern Oklahoma Library System, which lends less per resident than 75% of systems its size
Tahlequah’s library is the Tahlequah Public Library, a branch of Eastern Oklahoma Library System, which serves 236,086 people and lent 694K items last year.
What stands out about Tahlequah Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Tahlequah’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Tahlequah is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #3 of 128 in Oklahoma. Tahlequah 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 →
109 community nonprofits are registered in Tahlequah
6.4 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 (43 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
13.2%
13.2% of Tahlequah’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 Tahlequah’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2003
Tahlequah Public Library, 120 S. College, Tahlequah.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Eastern Oklahoma Library System branch.
New in Tahlequah? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Tahlequah Carnegie Library
Tahlequah Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 5, 2003. It is significant for its education at the local level. Its architecture is described as Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals and Classical Revival.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Eastern Oklahoma Library System serves 236,086 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Eastern Oklahoma Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
694K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
224,936 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 31 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tahlequah cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6M 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 79,603 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.
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. Tahlequah Public Library is one branch of Eastern Oklahoma Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 236,086 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 Tahlequah
Does Tahlequah have a public library?
Yes: Tahlequah Public Library, 120 S. College, is a branch of Eastern Oklahoma Library System, which serves 236,086 people. The branch is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Eastern 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 Tahlequah’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Tahlequah’s civic life grade?
A+ Tahlequah 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 Tahlequah.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.