Photo: Corey Graese · CC BY-SA 4.0Ashland’s library runs 9.9 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Boyd County Public Library serves 47,826 people in and around Ashland. Last year it lent 294K books, movies and e-books and logged 125K visits.
What Ashland’s library is like
More library cards than residents
47,984 cards for 47,826 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Ashland branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 473 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans, more per resident than at 82% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 59%. What people borrow ↓
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; Boyd County Public Library serves 47,826 people in and around Ashland, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Ashland’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ashland is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #43 of 126 in Kentucky. Ashland is graded on two of the three inputs. Ashland’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
106 community nonprofits are registered in Ashland
5.0 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 (31 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.
6.5%
6.5% of Ashland’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.6% in the typical Kentucky 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 Ashland’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Boyd County Public Library serves 47,826 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Boyd County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
41% of borrowing is digital
294K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
121,152 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Boyd County Public Library, 1740 Central Avenue, Ashland.
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 Boyd County Public Library branch.
New in Ashland? 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 $1.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ashland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.9M 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 47,984 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashland | Boyd County Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | B− |
| Catlettsburg | Catlettsburg fine-free | — | 16 | D |
| Westwood | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Boyd County Public Library serves 47,826 people in and around Ashland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ashland.
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 Ashland
Does Ashland have a public library?
Yes. Boyd County Public Library, 1740 Central Avenue, serves 47,826 people in and around Ashland (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Boyd 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 Ashland’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 6.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Ashland’s civic life grade?
B− Ashland is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #43 of 126 in Kentucky. 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 Ashland.
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.