Cunningham House and Outbuildings · Photo: United States Army Corps of Engineers · Public domainBurnsville’s library runs 90 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Burnsville Public Library serves 3,184 people in and around Burnsville. Last year it lent 3,143 books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
What Burnsville’s library is like
West Virginia pays a big share
44% of the budget comes from the state, and 37% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 287 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 23 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Burnsville Public Library lends 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, fewer than 92% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Burnsville Public Library spends $15 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Burnsville Public Library serves 3,184 people in and around Burnsville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Burnsville’s civic life grade
Burnsville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
About 5 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Burnsville Public Library serves 3,184 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Burnsville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,143 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Burnsville’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
541 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Burnsville Public Library, 235 Kanawha Street, Burnsville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Burnsville Public Library branch.
New in Burnsville? 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 $1.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Burnsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $49K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $96K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $49K 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 1,050 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Burnsville Public Library serves 3,184 people in and around Burnsville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Burnsville.
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 Burnsville
Does Burnsville have a public library?
Yes. Burnsville Public Library, 235 Kanawha Street, serves 3,184 people in and around Burnsville (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Burnsville 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 Burnsville’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Burnsville’s civic life grade?
Burnsville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Burnsville.
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.