Hobart’s library runs 159 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Oneida Community Library serves 4,555 people in and around Hobart. Last year it lent 6,624 books, movies and e-books and logged 8,821 visits.
The short version on Hobart’s library
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Oneida Community Library ran 723 programs last year, about 14 a week. That’s 159 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Well funded, but lightly used
Oneida Community Library spends $110 per resident, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 69% of them. What your card is worth ↓
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; Oneida Community Library serves 4,555 people in and around Hobart, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hobart’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hobart is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #271 of 358 in Wisconsin. Hobart is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Hobart’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($78K–$129K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Hobart
1.7 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.3%
9.3% of Hobart’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Wisconsin 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 Hobart’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Oneida Community Library serves 4,555 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Oneida Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,624 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,214 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Oneida Community Library, 201 Elm St., Oneida.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Oneida Community Library branch.
New in Hobart? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hobart cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $501K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $133K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $501K 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 1,437 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.
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. Oneida Community Library serves 4,555 people in and around Hobart, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hobart.
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 Hobart
Does Hobart have a public library?
Yes. Oneida Community Library, 201 Elm St., serves 4,555 people in and around Hobart (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oneida Community 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 Hobart’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hobart’s civic life grade?
C Hobart is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #271 of 358 in Wisconsin. 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 Hobart.
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.