Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 3.0Bland’s library lends 8.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Bland County Public Library serves 6,210 people in and around Bland. Last year it lent 55K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
What Bland’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 9% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 158 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Virginia pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 78% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 5% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 72% 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; Bland County Public Library serves 6,210 people in and around Bland, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bland’s civic life grade
Bland 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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
55K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,956 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bland County Public Library serves 6,210 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bland County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
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
Bland County Public Library, 697 Main Street, Bland.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bland County Public Library branch.
New in Bland? 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 $2.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $342K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $909K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $342K 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 538 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bland County Public Library serves 6,210 people in and around Bland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bland.
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 Bland
Does Bland have a public library?
Yes. Bland County Public Library, 697 Main Street, serves 6,210 people in and around Bland (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bland County Public 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 Bland’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 8.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bland’s civic life grade?
Bland 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 Bland.
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.