Tonkawa Lodge No. 157 A.F. & A.M. · Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY-SA 3.0Tonkawa’s library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Tonkawa Public Library serves Tonkawa’s 2,995 residents. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
What Tonkawa’s library is like
More library cards than residents
3,584 cards for 2,995 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 ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Tonkawa Public Library offered 4 programs last year, 1.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Tonkawa Public Library holds 24,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans, more per resident than at 74% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 60%, much of it kids’ books. 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 Tonkawa’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Tonkawa is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #55 of 128 in Oklahoma. Tonkawa’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Tonkawa
5.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.7%
6.7% of Tonkawa’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 Tonkawa’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Tonkawa Public Library serves 2,995 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
40% of borrowing is digital
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
5,634 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
4 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Tonkawa last year.
Find it
Tonkawa Public Library, 216 N Seventh, Tonkawa.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Tonkawa? 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 $1.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tonkawa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $205K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $208K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $205K 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 3,584 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. Tonkawa Public 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 Tonkawa
Does Tonkawa have a public library?
Yes. Tonkawa Public Library, 216 N Seventh, serves Tonkawa’s 2,995 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tonkawa Public 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 Tonkawa’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Tonkawa’s civic life grade?
B Tonkawa is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #55 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 Tonkawa.
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.