Photo: KJPurscell · CC BY-SA 3.0Big Stone Gap’s library is a branch of Lonesome Pine Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 71% of systems its size
Big Stone Gap’s library is the C. Bascom Slemp Memorial Library, a branch of Lonesome Pine Regional Library, which serves 97,067 people and lent 228K items last year.
What Big Stone Gap’s library is like
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 2,164 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 26 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Virginia pays a big share
25% of the budget comes from the state, and 72% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 8% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 92% of similar-size libraries. 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; Big Stone Gap’s library is a branch of Lonesome Pine Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (97,067 people), not just the Big Stone Gap branch.
What’s behind Big Stone Gap’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Big Stone Gap is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #11 of 88 in Virginia. Big Stone Gap is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Big Stone Gap
4.7 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 (9 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.
13.0%
13.0% of Big Stone Gap’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.9% in the typical Virginia 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 Big Stone Gap’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lonesome Pine Regional Library serves 97,067 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lonesome Pine Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
228K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17,349 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 32 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
C. Bascom Slemp Memorial Library, 11 Proctor Street N, Big Stone Gap.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lonesome Pine Regional Library branch.
New in Big Stone Gap? 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 $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Big Stone Gap cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 5,589 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Stone Gap | C. Bascom Slemp Memorial Library | — | 47 | A |
| Big Stone Gap East | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. C. Bascom Slemp Memorial Library is one branch of Lonesome Pine Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 97,067 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 Big Stone Gap
Does Big Stone Gap have a public library?
Yes: C. Bascom Slemp Memorial Library, 11 Proctor Street N, is a branch of Lonesome Pine Regional Library, which serves 97,067 people. The branch is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lonesome Pine Regional Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Big Stone Gap’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Big Stone Gap’s civic life grade?
A Big Stone Gap is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #11 of 88 in Virginia. 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 Big Stone Gap.
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.