Photo: User:Vmenkov · CC BY-SA 3.0Morgantown’s library is a branch of Morgan County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 58% of systems its size
Morgantown’s library is the Morgantown Branch, a branch of Morgan County Public Library, which serves 58,364 people and lent 257K items last year.
What stands out about Morgantown Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Morgantown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Morgantown is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns. Morgantown is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Morgantown’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Morgantown
2.2 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
15.3%
15.3% of Morgantown’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana 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 Morgantown’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Morgan County Public Library serves 58,364 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Morgan County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
257K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
73,536 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 13 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.
Find it
Morgantown Branch, 79 West Washington Street, Morgantown.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Morgan County Public Library branch.
New in Morgantown? 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 $1.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Morgantown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 13,003 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morgantown | Morgantown Branch fine-free | — | 28 | B |
| Jackson Township | Morgantown Branch fine-free | — | 28 | — graded with its twin city |
| Hensley Township | Trafalgar Branch fine-free | — | 61 | 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.
- System-wide. Morgantown Branch is one branch of Morgan County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 58,364 people it serves.
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 Morgantown
Does Morgantown have a public library?
Yes: Morgantown Branch, 79 West Washington Street, is a branch of Morgan County Public Library, which serves 58,364 people. The branch is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Morgan County 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 Morgantown’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Morgantown’s civic life grade?
B Morgantown is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Morgantown.
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.