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2016-06-26 18 37 03 View south along Virginia State Route 42 and east along Virginia State Route 259 Alternate (Main Street) between Mason Street and Miller Street in Broadway, Rockingham County, VirginiaPhoto: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Village Library · part of Massanutten Regional Library

Broadway’s library is a branch of Massanutten Regional Library, which lends more per resident than 68% of systems its size

Broadway’s library is the Village Library, a branch of Massanutten Regional Library, which serves 162,560 people and lent 862K items last year.

175 N. Main Street, Broadway 22815 · about 38 hours a week
C−Civic lifeAhead of 25% of U.S. towns · #72 of 88 in Virginia. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (540) 434-4475 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
862K
5.3 per resident
Visits a year
237K
1.5 per resident · Below typical (2.1)
Programs & events
2,401
about 46 a week · 50K attended
Cardholders
6%
9,062 cards
Open
38 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

What Broadway’s library is like

Most programs are for young children

79% of the 2,401 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 21 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓

Virginia pays a big share

21% of the budget comes from the state, and 79% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓

Kids’ books are most of what goes out

Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 78% 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; Broadway’s library is a branch of Massanutten Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (162,560 people), not just the Broadway branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Broadway’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Broadway is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #72 of 88 in Virginia. Broadway is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.

C−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Broadway’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureCCommunity nonprofits2.7 per 1,000 residents · VA towns 4.4 · U.S. 3.7C+Volunteering6.9% of adults 25–44 · VA towns 6.9% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 25%
FewerMore
Virginia towns we grade (88)Ahead of 18%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $49K–$81K (8,499)Ahead of 23%

Massanutten Regional Library spends $18 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($49K–$81K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Broadway is small (4,463 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

12 community nonprofits are registered in Broadway

2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation30.66 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans20.54 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services10.33 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.33 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other20.42 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

6.9%

6.9% of Broadway’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 Broadway’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.5 visits · typical 2.1Lower than 75%
Borrowing per resident 4.8 print items · typical 3.2Higher than 68%
Digital borrowing 0.5 e-items · typical 1.4Lower than 82%
Kids’ borrowing 3 kids’ items · typical 1.6Higher than 78%
Program attendance 0.3 attendees · typical 0.2Higher than 72%
Programs offered 14.8 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Higher than 77%
Cardholders 6% of residents · typical 41%Bottom 10%
Spending $18 per resident · typical $36Lower than 85%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Massanutten Regional Library serves 162,560 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 68 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Massanutten Regional Library system. The library’s own count.

237K
visits
1.5 per resident
862K
loans, print + digital
5.3 per resident
2,401
programs & events
50K attended
9,062
library cards
6% of people served
Every open hour68items borrowed
Every week969people at a program
Every week4,552visits
32 staff (full-time equivalent)38 public computers
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

862K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

862Kloans
Books & media (adults) 34%Kids’ books & media 56%E-books, audio & streaming 10%
From your couch

84,996 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 36 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Broadway →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–51,101
Ages 6–11786
Teens27
Adults305
All ages182
Little ones
21.2

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

483K
kids’ books & media borrowed
50K
people at programs
2,401
programs
The building

Find it

Village Library, 175 N. Main Street, Broadway.

Directions(540) 434-4475
38
hours open a week
5,804
square feet
With a card

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 Massanutten Regional Library branch.

New in Broadway? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $4.36 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Broadway cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
3
Kids’ books$12 each
4
E-books & audio$15 each
1
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$1,368
a year at retail prices · $114 a month

Who pays for it
$18 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.9M.

Local taxes 79%State 21%Gifts & other 0%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $13M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.9M 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 9,062 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Village Library is one branch of Massanutten Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 162,560 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 Broadway

Does Broadway have a public library?

Yes: Village Library, 175 N. Main Street, is a branch of Massanutten Regional Library, which serves 162,560 people. The branch is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Massanutten Regional 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 Broadway’s library?

It logged 1.5 visits and lent 5.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Broadway’s civic life grade?

C− Broadway is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #72 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 Broadway.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.