Thomas R. Kerr Dr. House and Office · Photo: Lee Paxton · CC BY-SA 4.0Oakmont’s library lends 9.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Oakmont Carnegie Library serves 9,250 people in and around Oakmont. Last year it lent 124K books, movies and e-books and drew 5,618 people to its programs.
The short version on Oakmont’s library
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 56%. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 43% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
62% of the 396 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 101 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Oakmont Carnegie Library serves 9,250 people in and around Oakmont, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Oakmont’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Oakmont is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #121 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Oakmont 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.
The survey’s stand-in for Oakmont’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Oakmont
4.5 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.8%
8.8% of Oakmont’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.0% in the typical Pennsylvania 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 Oakmont’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
124K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
33,105 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 all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Oakmont Carnegie Library serves 9,250 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 53 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Oakmont Carnegie Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
About 2 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
Oakmont Carnegie Library, 700 Allegheny River Blvd, Oakmont.
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 Oakmont Carnegie Library branch.
New in Oakmont? 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 $3.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oakmont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $484K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $484K 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 6,702 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Hills | Penn Hills Library fine-free | 7.1 | 51 | — too few inputs |
| Plum | Plum Borough Community Library fine-free | 5.9 | 51 | D |
| Oakmont | Oakmont Carnegie Library fine-free | — | 45 | B+ |
| Verona | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Harmar Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| O'Hara Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Oakmont Carnegie Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Oakmont Carnegie Library serves 9,250 people in and around Oakmont, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Oakmont.
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 Oakmont
Does Oakmont have a public library?
Yes. Oakmont Carnegie Library, 700 Allegheny River Blvd, serves 9,250 people in and around Oakmont (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oakmont Carnegie 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 Oakmont’s library?
It lent 13.4 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 396 programs that drew 5,618 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Oakmont’s civic life grade?
B+ Oakmont is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #121 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. 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 Oakmont.
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.