Photo: Nils Huenerfuerst · CC BY-SA 4.0Tulsa’s library lends 8.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Tulsa City-County Library System serves 682,868 people in and around Tulsa from 13 locations. Last year it lent 7.4M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.9M visits.
The short version on Tulsa’s library
A system of heavy borrowers
Tulsa City-County Library System lends 8.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 69 hours a week
The Tulsa branch is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Programs draw a crowd
362,000 people came to the system’s 9,471 programs last year: 0.5 per resident, against a typical 0.2, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
13 branches in Tulsa
Tulsa has 13 branches of the Tulsa City-County Library System, which serves 682,868 people in and around Tulsa. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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; Tulsa City-County Library System serves 682,868 people in and around Tulsa, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Tulsa’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Tulsa is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #65 of 128 in Oklahoma. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #67. Tulsa is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Tulsa’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
1,668 community nonprofits are registered in Tulsa
4.0 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 (758 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 164 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.9%
7.9% of Tulsa’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 Tulsa’s residents live; 2022.
About 113 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Tulsa City-County Library System serves 682,868 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 107 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tulsa City-County Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
7.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,827,501 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
13 places to borrow in Tulsa
Central Library, 400 Civic Center, Tulsa.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Tulsa City-County Library System branch.
New in Tulsa? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Tulsa City-County Library System branches in Tulsa
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tulsa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $33M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $112M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $33M 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 364,332 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catoosa | Catoosa Public Library | 4.2 | 44 | C+ |
| Sapulpa | Sapulpa Bartlett Carnegie Public Library | 2.1 | 50 | B− |
| Tulsa | Central Library fine-free | — | 69 | B |
| Broken Arrow | Broken Arrow Library fine-free | — | 55 | B− |
| Jenks | Jenks Library fine-free | — | 51 | B |
| Sand Springs | Pratt Library fine-free | — | 51 | A− |
| Bixby | Bixby Library fine-free | — | 47 | B |
| Sperry | Judy Z Kishner Library fine-free | — | 47 | B− |
| Fair Oaks | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Turley | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Oakhurst | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Tulsa City-County Library System serves 682,868 people in and around Tulsa, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Tulsa.
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 Tulsa
Does Tulsa have a public library?
Yes. Tulsa City-County Library System, 400 Civic Center, serves 682,868 people in and around Tulsa (the survey’s count) and is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tulsa City-County 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 Tulsa’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 10.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Tulsa’s civic life grade?
B Tulsa is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #65 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 Tulsa.
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.