Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Barboursville’s library is a branch of Cabell County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 83% of systems its size
Barboursville’s library is the Barboursville, a branch of Cabell County Public Library, which serves 94,350 people and lent 933K items last year.
The short version on Barboursville’s library
More library cards than residents
144,326 cards for 94,350 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
79,000 people came to the system’s 2,798 programs last year: 0.8 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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; Barboursville’s library is a branch of Cabell County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (94,350 people), not just the Barboursville branch.
What’s behind Barboursville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Barboursville is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #26 of 48 in West Virginia. Barboursville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Barboursville
3.9 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.9%
9.9% of Barboursville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.9% in the typical West 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 Barboursville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Cabell County Public Library serves 94,350 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 48 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cabell County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
933K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Barboursville’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
171,911 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 34 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
Barboursville, 749 Central Avenue, Barboursville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Cabell County Public Library branch.
New in Barboursville? 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 $3.89 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Barboursville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.2M 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 144,326 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barboursville | Barboursville fine-free | — | 47 | B+ |
| Huntington | Cabell County Public Library fine-free | — | 56 | A− |
| Pea Ridge | None of its own | — | — | — 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.
- System-wide. Barboursville is one branch of Cabell County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 94,350 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 Barboursville
Does Barboursville have a public library?
Yes: Barboursville, 749 Central Avenue, is a branch of Cabell County Public Library, which serves 94,350 people. The branch is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cabell County 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 Barboursville’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Barboursville’s civic life grade?
B+ Barboursville is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #26 of 48 in West 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 Barboursville.
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.