Photo: Jarek Tuszyński · CC BY-SA 3.0Covington’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Alleghany Highlands Regional Library serves 20,880 people in and around Covington. Last year it lent 36K books, movies and e-books and logged 26K visits.
Covington’s library, in brief
Alleghany Highlands Regional Library is used less than most libraries its size
Alleghany Highlands Regional Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $20 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Alleghany Highlands Regional Library offered 140 programs last year, 6.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Virginia pays a big share
24% of the budget comes from the state, and 70% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 140 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Alleghany Highlands Regional Library serves 20,880 people in and around Covington, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Covington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Covington is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #49 of 88 in Virginia. Covington is graded on two of the three inputs. Covington’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Covington
4.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of Covington’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 Covington’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Alleghany Highlands Regional Library serves 20,880 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Alleghany Highlands Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
36K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,195 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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
Alleghany Highlands Regional Library, 406 W. Riverside Street, Covington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Alleghany Highlands Regional Library branch.
New in Covington? 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 $1.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Covington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $411K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $646K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $411K 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 2,591 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covington | Alleghany Highlands Regional Library | — | 48 | B− |
| Mallow | 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. Alleghany Highlands Regional Library serves 20,880 people in and around Covington, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Covington.
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 Covington
Does Covington have a public library?
Yes. Alleghany Highlands Regional Library, 406 W. Riverside Street, serves 20,880 people in and around Covington (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Alleghany Highlands 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 Covington’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Covington’s civic life grade?
B− Covington is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #49 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 Covington.
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.