Photo: Nyttend · Public domainSouth Charleston’s library is a branch of Clark County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 59% of systems its size
South Charleston’s library is the Houston Branch, a branch of Clark County Public Library, which serves 129,685 people and lent 747K items last year.
The short version on South Charleston’s library
Ohio pays a big share
56% of the budget comes from the state, and 31% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A well-funded system
The Clark County Public Library system spends $83 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
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; South Charleston’s library is a branch of Clark County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (129,685 people), not just the South Charleston branch.
What’s behind South Charleston’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, South Charleston is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns. South Charleston is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; South Charleston’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in South Charleston
4.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.9%
8.9% of South Charleston’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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 South Charleston’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average South Charleston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 63,266 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Clark County Public Library serves 129,685 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Clark County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
747K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
259,490 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 9 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
Houston Branch, 5 W. Jamestown St., South Charleston.
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 Clark County Public Library branch.
New in South Charleston? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Houston Branch is one branch of Clark County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 129,685 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 South Charleston
Does South Charleston have a public library?
Yes: Houston Branch, 5 W. Jamestown St., is a branch of Clark County Public Library, which serves 129,685 people. The branch is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clark County 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 South Charleston’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is South Charleston’s civic life grade?
A− South Charleston is ahead of 78% 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 South Charleston.
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.