Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Sharpsburg’s library is a branch of Bath County Memorial Library, which lends less per resident than 58% of systems its size
Sharpsburg’s library is the Sharpsburg Branch, a branch of Bath County Memorial Library, which serves 12,975 people and lent 49K items last year.
What stands out about Sharpsburg Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Sharpsburg’s civic life grade
Sharpsburg isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bath County Memorial Library serves 12,975 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bath County Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
49K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,175 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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
Sharpsburg Branch, 7781 West Tunnel Hill Road, Sharpsburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bath County Memorial Library branch.
New in Sharpsburg? 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 $1.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sharpsburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $574K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $800K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $574K 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 6,216 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Sharpsburg Branch is one branch of Bath County Memorial Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 12,975 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 Sharpsburg
Does Sharpsburg have a public library?
Yes: Sharpsburg Branch, 7781 West Tunnel Hill Road, is a branch of Bath County Memorial Library, which serves 12,975 people. The branch is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bath County Memorial 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 Sharpsburg’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Sharpsburg’s civic life grade?
Sharpsburg isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Sharpsburg.
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.