Photo: Iulus Ascanius at English Wikipedia · Public domainOconomowoc’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Oconomowoc Public Library serves Oconomowoc’s 29,914 residents. Last year it lent 382K books, movies and e-books and logged 131K visits.
What Oconomowoc’s library is like
Oconomowoc is a town of borrowers
Oconomowoc Public Library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.9 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 39 items per child in Oconomowoc last year. 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.
What’s behind Oconomowoc’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Oconomowoc is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #101 of 358 in Wisconsin. Oconomowoc 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.
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 →
79 community nonprofits are registered in Oconomowoc
4.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (16 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.
10.6%
10.6% of Oconomowoc’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 Oconomowoc’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
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 Oconomowoc last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Oconomowoc Public Library serves 29,914 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 120 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
382K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 107K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.9 times last year, on average.
76,715 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Oconomowoc Public Library, 200 South St., Oconomowoc.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Oconomowoc? 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 $4.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oconomowoc cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 13,594 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oconomowoc | Oconomowoc Public Library | 12.8 | 61 | A− |
| Summit | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Oconomowoc Lake | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Okauchee Lake | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Concord | 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.
- 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 Oconomowoc
Does Oconomowoc have a public library?
Yes. Oconomowoc Public Library, 200 South St., serves Oconomowoc’s 29,914 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oconomowoc Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Oconomowoc’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 12.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Oconomowoc’s civic life grade?
A− Oconomowoc is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #101 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 Oconomowoc.
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.