Photo: Nyttend · Public domainPikeville’s library lends 6.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Pike County Public Library District serves 55,973 people in and around Pikeville from 2 locations. Last year it lent 394K books, movies and e-books and logged 97K visits.
What stands out about Pike County Public Library District
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Pikeville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Pikeville is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns, #10 of 126 in Kentucky. Pikeville is graded on two of the three inputs. Pikeville’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 →
52 community nonprofits are registered in Pikeville
6.9 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.5%
7.5% of Pikeville’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 Pikeville’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.
Pike County Public Library District serves 55,973 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pike County Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. 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
394K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
47,999 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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.
2 places to borrow in Pikeville
Pike County Public Library District, 119 College Street, Pikeville.
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 Pike County Public Library District branch.
New in Pikeville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Pike County Public Library District branches in Pikeville
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pikeville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 50,987 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pikeville | Pike County Public Library District fine-free | — | 45 | A− |
| Coal Run Village | None of its own | — | — | C |
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: books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Pike County Public Library District serves 55,973 people in and around Pikeville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Pikeville.
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 Pikeville
Does Pikeville have a public library?
Yes. Pike County Public Library District, 119 College Street, serves 55,973 people in and around Pikeville (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pike County Public Library District 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 Pikeville’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 7.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Pikeville’s civic life grade?
A− Pikeville is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns on civic life, #10 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 Pikeville.
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.