Photo: self · CC BY 3.0West Point’s library is a branch of Pamunkey Regional Library, which lends more per resident than 54% of systems its size
West Point’s library is the West Point Branch Library, a branch of Pamunkey Regional Library, which serves 160,674 people and lent 805K items last year.
What stands out about West Point Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind West Point’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, West Point is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #1 of 88 in Virginia. West Point is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; West Point’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in West Point
8.3 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.9%
10.9% of West Point’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 West Point’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Pamunkey Regional Library serves 160,674 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pamunkey Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
805K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
266,211 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 19 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
West Point Branch Library, 721 Main Street, West Point.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pamunkey Regional Library branch.
New in West Point? 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 $1.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average West Point cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.4M 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 44,908 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. West Point Branch Library is one branch of Pamunkey Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 160,674 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 West Point
Does West Point have a public library?
Yes: West Point Branch Library, 721 Main Street, is a branch of Pamunkey Regional Library, which serves 160,674 people. The branch is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pamunkey 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 West Point’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is West Point’s civic life grade?
A+ West Point is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1 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 West Point.
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.