Photo: Mavisd · CC BY-SA 3.0Oil City’s library lends 2.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Oil Region Library Association serves 36,213 people in and around Oil City. Last year it lent 121K books, movies and e-books and logged 77K visits.
The short version on Oil City’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
48% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 23%. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Oil Region Library Association sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
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; Oil Region Library Association serves 36,213 people in and around Oil City, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Oil City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Oil City is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #182 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Oil City is graded on two of the three inputs. Oil City’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 →
49 community nonprofits are registered in Oil City
5.2 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.4%
7.4% of Oil City’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 Oil City’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Oil Region Library Association serves 36,213 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Oil Region Library Association system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
121K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
20,514 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Oil Region Library Association, 2 Central Ave, Oil City.
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 Oil Region Library Association branch.
New in Oil City? 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 $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oil City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $927K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $927K 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 7,170 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oil City | Oil Region Library Association fine-free | — | 54 | B+ |
| Cranberry Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Cornplanter Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Woodland Heights | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Hasson Heights | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Sugarcreek | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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. Oil Region Library Association serves 36,213 people in and around Oil City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Oil City.
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 Oil City
Does Oil City have a public library?
Yes. Oil Region Library Association, 2 Central Ave, serves 36,213 people in and around Oil City (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oil Region Library Association 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 Oil City’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Oil City’s civic life grade?
B+ Oil City is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #182 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 Oil City.
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.