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Library · Oakville

Oakville Branch Library

Oakville Branch Library serves 22,274 people in and around Oakville. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 31K visits.

55 Davis Street, Watertown 06779 · about 19 hours a week
Photo: John Phelan
Borrowed a year
52K
2.3 per resident
Visits a year
31K
1.4 per resident · Below typical (3.1)
Programs & events
161
about 3 a week · 2,441 attended
Cardholders
47%
10,536 cards
Open
19 hrs
a week

What stands out about Oakville Branch Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · What your card is worth

What a library card is worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oakville cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$0
a year at retail prices · $0 a month

Who pays for it
$40 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $900K.

Local taxes 96%State 0%Gifts & other 3%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $788K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $900K 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 10,536 cardholders ÷ 12.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

31K
visits
1.4 per resident
52K
loans, print + digital
2.3 per resident
161
programs & events
2,441 attended
11K
library cards
47% of people served
Every open hour17items borrowed
Every week47people at a program
Every week589visits
6 staff (full-time equivalent)15 public computers92K books & media on the shelves
How it compares

Close to typical for its size

Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.

Visits per resident 1.4 visits · typical 3.1Lower than 81%
Borrowing per resident 1.9 print items · typical 3.9Lower than 77%
Digital borrowing 0.4 e-items · typical 1.1Lower than 79%
Kids’ borrowing 0.8 kids’ items · typical 1.8Lower than 73%
Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.4Lower than 90%
Programs offered 7.2 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Lower than 90%
Cardholders 47% of residents · typical 40%Higher than 63%
Spending $40 per resident · typical $43Lower than 55%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
In Connecticut
#153 of 173

library systems for visits per resident.

Size group

Oakville Branch Library serves 22,274 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

52Kloans
Books & media (adults) 46%Kids’ books & media 37%E-books, audio & streaming 18%
How hard the shelves work
0.5×

Each of the 92K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.

From your couch

9,151 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 2 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Oakville →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–548
Ages 6–1144
Teens7
Adults55
All ages7
Little ones
0.9

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

19K
kids’ books & media borrowed
2,441
people at programs
161
programs
The building

Find it

Oakville Branch Library, 55 Davis Street, Watertown.

19
hours open a week
4,815
square feet
92K
books & media
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Oakville? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

Next door

Libraries next door

Oakville borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHours
OakvilleOakville Branch Library fine-free2.319
WatertownWatertown Library Association fine-free2.340
WaterburySilas Bronson Library1.156

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.

About these numbers

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
  • Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
  • 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.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Oakville.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is Oakville Branch Library one of the best things about Oakville?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Start a conversation

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.

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