Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Wellsville’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
City of Wellsville Municipal Library District serves Wellsville’s 998 residents. Last year it lent 1,537 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,232 visits.
Wellsville’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
1,130 cards for 998 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
City of Wellsville Municipal Library District is used less than most libraries its size
City of Wellsville Municipal Library District records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $23 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
City of Wellsville Municipal Library District serves 998 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 24 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Wellsville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Wellsville is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. Wellsville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Wellsville
8.6 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 (3 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.
8.6%
8.6% of Wellsville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.3% in the typical Missouri 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 Wellsville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
City of Wellsville Municipal Library District serves 998 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,537 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
21 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Wellsville last year.
Find it
Wellsville Public Library, 108 W Hudson St., Wellsville.
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 $1.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wellsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $23K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $27K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,130 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Wellsville
Does Wellsville have a public library?
Yes. City of Wellsville Municipal Library District, 108 W Hudson St., serves Wellsville’s 998 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is City of Wellsville Municipal Library District fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Wellsville’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Wellsville’s civic life grade?
B Wellsville is ahead of 58% 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 Wellsville.
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.