Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Lone Oak’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Lone Oak Area Public Library serves Lone Oak’s 1,839 residents. Last year it lent 89K books, movies and e-books and logged 2,734 visits.
The short version on Lone Oak’s library
More library cards than residents
2,675 cards for 1,839 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Most of Lone Oak’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 76% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 24%. What people borrow ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
74% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 26%. What your card is worth ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 84%. People come in, pick up their books and go, or skip the trip: 76% of loans are digital. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Lone Oak Area Public Library serves 1,839 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 32 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Lone Oak’s civic life grade
Lone Oak isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
76% of borrowing is digital
89K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
67,973 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lone Oak Area Public Library serves 1,839 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 54 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
38 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Lone Oak last year.
Find it
Lone Oak Area Public Library, 102 Jones St., Lone Oak.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Lone Oak? 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 $39.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lone Oak cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $35K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $35K 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 2,675 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Lone Oak
Does Lone Oak have a public library?
Yes. Lone Oak Area Public Library, 102 Jones St., serves Lone Oak’s 1,839 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lone Oak Area Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lone Oak’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 48.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lone Oak’s civic life grade?
Lone Oak isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Lone Oak.
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.