Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainPetersburg’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Petersburg Public Library serves Petersburg’s 324 residents. Last year it lent 500 books, movies and e-books and logged 300 visits.
What Petersburg’s library is like
Petersburg Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Petersburg Public Library records 0.9 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: $8 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Open only about 10 hours a week
Petersburg Public Library keeps short hours: about 10 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Petersburg Public Library serves 324 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Runs on less money than most
Petersburg Public Library spends $8 per resident, less than 98% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 62% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Petersburg’s civic life grade
Petersburg 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 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Petersburg Public Library serves 324 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Petersburg Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
500 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 5,497 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
20 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 Petersburg last year.
Find it
Petersburg Public Library, 103 South Second Street, Petersburg.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Petersburg? 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 $2.98 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Petersburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $2,500.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7,450 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2,500 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 155 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Petersburg Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Petersburg
Does Petersburg have a public library?
Yes. Petersburg Public Library, 103 South Second Street, serves Petersburg’s 324 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 10 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Petersburg Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Petersburg’s library?
It logged 0.9 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 Petersburg’s civic life grade?
Petersburg 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 Petersburg.
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.