Photo: Taber Andrew Bain · CC BY 2.0Pearisburg’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Pearisburg Public Library serves Pearisburg’s 2,620 residents. Last year it lent 28K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,646 visits.
What Pearisburg’s library is like
Pearisburg ranks 3rd in Virginia for kids’ borrowing
Out of 24 Virginia towns with a library of their own, Pearisburg comes 3rd for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Pearisburg is a town of borrowers
Pearisburg Public Library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 45% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Pearisburg last year. Kids & programs ↓
Virginia pays a big share
24% of the budget comes from the state, and 76% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Pearisburg invests in its library
Pearisburg Public Library spends $132 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. 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.
What’s behind Pearisburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pearisburg is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #24 of 88 in Virginia. Pearisburg’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Pearisburg
9.8 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.1%
8.1% of Pearisburg’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 Pearisburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Pearisburg Public Library serves 2,620 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
28K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 38K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
1,196 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
60 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Pearisburg last year.
Find it
Pearisburg Public Library, 209 Fort Branch Road, Pearisburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pearisburg? 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 $1.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pearisburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $345K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $422K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $345K 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 977 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Pearisburg
Does Pearisburg have a public library?
Yes. Pearisburg Public Library, 209 Fort Branch Road, serves Pearisburg’s 2,620 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pearisburg Public 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 Pearisburg’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 10.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Pearisburg’s civic life grade?
A− Pearisburg is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 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 Pearisburg.
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.