Photo: Joe Ravi · CC BY-SA 3.0Roanoke’s library runs 61 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Roanoke City Public Library serves Roanoke’s 99,883 residents from 8 locations. Last year it lent 253K print books and media and logged 435K visits.
The short version on Roanoke’s library
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Roanoke City Public Library ran 6,123 programs last year, about 118 a week. That’s 61 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 75,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 80% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 34%. The building also logs about 98 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 88% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people Roanoke City Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Eight places to borrow in Roanoke
Roanoke City Public Library runs eight locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Roanoke’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Roanoke is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #39 of 88 in Virginia. Roanoke’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 →
493 community nonprofits are registered in Roanoke
5.0 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 (121 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 17 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.8%
6.8% of Roanoke’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 Roanoke’s residents live; 2022.
About 72 kids’ programs a week
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 Roanoke last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Roanoke City Public Library serves 99,883 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
253K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 210K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
8 places to borrow in Roanoke
Roanoke City Public Library, 706 S. Jefferson Street, Roanoke.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Roanoke? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Roanoke
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Roanoke cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.7M 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 13,533 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salem | Salem Public Library fine-free | 6.9 | 54 | B− |
| Roanoke | Roanoke City Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 52 | B |
| Cave Spring | South County Library fine-free | — | 54 | — unincorporated |
| Vinton | Vinton Branch Library fine-free | — | 54 | C |
| Hollins | Hollins Branch Library fine-free | — | 54 | — unincorporated |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Roanoke
Does Roanoke have a public library?
Yes. Roanoke City Public Library, 706 S. Jefferson Street, serves Roanoke’s 99,883 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Roanoke City 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 Roanoke’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 2.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Roanoke’s civic life grade?
B Roanoke is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #39 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 Roanoke.
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.