Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Grundy’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Buchanan County Public Library serves 19,982 people in and around Grundy. Last year it lent 27K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
What Grundy’s library is like
Buchanan County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Buchanan County Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% 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
25% of the budget comes from the state, and 75% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Buchanan County Public Library serves 19,982 people in and around Grundy, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Grundy’s civic life grade
Grundy 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Buchanan County Public Library serves 19,982 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Buchanan County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
27K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,867 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
Buchanan County Public Library, 1185 Poe Town Street, Grundy.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Buchanan County Public Library branch.
New in Grundy? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Grundy cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $789K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $458K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $789K 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 2,128 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Buchanan County Public Library serves 19,982 people in and around Grundy, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Grundy.
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 Grundy
Does Grundy have a public library?
Yes. Buchanan County Public Library, 1185 Poe Town Street, serves 19,982 people in and around Grundy (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Buchanan 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 Grundy’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Grundy’s civic life grade?
Grundy 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 Grundy.
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.