Photo: Gplehner · CC BY-SA 3.0Oconto Falls’ library runs 14 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Oconto Falls Community Library serves Oconto Falls’s 12,606 residents. Last year it lent 51K books, movies and e-books and logged 28K visits.
What Oconto Falls’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people Oconto Falls Community Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 172 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.2 a week for ages 0–5. 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 Oconto Falls’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Oconto Falls is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #5 of 358 in Wisconsin. Oconto Falls is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Oconto Falls near the top nationally; 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Oconto Falls
8.0 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.8%
12.8% of Oconto Falls’ 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 Oconto Falls’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Oconto Falls Community Library serves 12,606 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
51K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
10,936 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Oconto Falls last year.
Find it
Oconto Falls Community Library, 251 N. Main St., Oconto Falls.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Oconto Falls? 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 $4.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oconto Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $209K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $839K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $209K 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 2,286 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oconto Falls | Oconto Falls Community Library | 4.1 | 45 | A+ |
| Stiles | 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 Oconto Falls
Does Oconto Falls have a public library?
Yes. Oconto Falls Community Library, 251 N. Main St., serves Oconto Falls’ 12,606 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oconto Falls Community 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 Oconto Falls’ library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Oconto Falls’ civic life grade?
A+ Oconto Falls is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #5 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 Oconto Falls.
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.