Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Pomeroy’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Pomeroy (Denny Ashby) Library serves 2,325 people in and around Pomeroy. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,606 visits.
What Pomeroy’s library is like
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 56% of loans, more per resident than at 89% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 44%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
The Pomeroy branch keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 58 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 32 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 68% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 58% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Pomeroy (Denny Ashby) Library serves 2,325 people in and around Pomeroy, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Pomeroy’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Pomeroy is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Pomeroy is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Pomeroy near the top nationally; Pomeroy’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 →
31 community nonprofits are registered in Pomeroy
22.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
16.2%
16.2% of Pomeroy’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.7% in the typical Washington 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 Pomeroy’s residents live; 2022.
56% of borrowing is digital
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,549 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Pomeroy (Denny Ashby) Library serves 2,325 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pomeroy (Denny Ashby) Library system. The library’s own count.
58 programs a year
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
Pomeroy (Denny Ashby) Library, 856 Arlington St., Pomeroy.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pomeroy (Denny Ashby) Library branch.
New in Pomeroy? 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 $3.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pomeroy cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $66K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $201K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $66K 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 761 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Pomeroy (Denny Ashby) Library serves 2,325 people in and around Pomeroy, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Pomeroy.
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 Pomeroy
Does Pomeroy have a public library?
Yes. Pomeroy (Denny Ashby) Library, 856 Arlington St., serves 2,325 people in and around Pomeroy (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pomeroy (Denny Ashby) 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 Pomeroy’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Pomeroy’s civic life grade?
A+ Pomeroy is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Pomeroy.
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.