Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Glasgow’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Public Library serves 45,008 people in and around Glasgow. Last year it lent 121K books, movies and e-books and logged 50K visits.
The short version on Glasgow’s library
Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 76% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 64% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
44% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 44% of loans. Print still makes up 56%, much of it kids’ books. 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; Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Public Library serves 45,008 people in and around Glasgow, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Glasgow’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Glasgow is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #42 of 126 in Kentucky. Glasgow is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Glasgow’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 →
53 community nonprofits are registered in Glasgow
3.5 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.3%
8.3% of Glasgow’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 Glasgow’s residents live; 2022.
44% of borrowing is digital
121K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
53,828 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Public Library serves 45,008 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 2 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
Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Public Library, 1530 South Green Street, Glasgow.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Public Library branch.
New in Glasgow? 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 $2.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Glasgow cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $795K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $795K 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 12,472 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Public Library serves 45,008 people in and around Glasgow, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Glasgow.
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 Glasgow
Does Glasgow have a public library?
Yes. Mary Wood Weldon Memorial Public Library, 1530 South Green Street, serves 45,008 people in and around Glasgow (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mary Wood Weldon Memorial 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 Glasgow’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Glasgow’s civic life grade?
B− Glasgow is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on civic life, #42 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 Glasgow.
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.