Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 3.0Ogema’s library lends 6.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Ogema Public Library serves 1,328 people in and around Ogema. Last year it lent 10K books, movies and e-books and drew 1,138 people to its programs.
The short version on Ogema’s library
A small-town library
Ogema Public Library serves 1,328 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 29 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 ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
33% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 67%. What your card is worth ↓
Ogema Public Library serves more than Ogema
The library’s service area covers 1,328 people in and around Ogema, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Ogema’s civic life grade
Ogema 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ogema Public Library serves 1,328 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
10K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
1,397 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
12 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Ogema Public Library, W5005 State Rd. 86, Ogema.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ogema? 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 $2.55 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ogema cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $65K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $164K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $65K 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 418 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westboro | Westboro Public Library fine-free | 15.9 | 28 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ogema | Ogema Public Library fine-free | 7.6 | 29 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Prentice | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Catawba | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Kennan | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hill | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Ogema Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
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 Ogema
Does Ogema have a public library?
Yes. Ogema Public Library, W5005 State Rd. 86, serves 1,328 people in and around Ogema (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ogema Public 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 Ogema’s library?
It lent 7.6 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 12 programs that drew 1,138 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Ogema’s civic life grade?
Ogema 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 Ogema.
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.