Henry Clay Furnace · Photo: Brian Masney · CC BY-SA 3.0Cheat Lake’s library is a branch of Morgantown Public Library, which lends less per resident than 83% of systems its size
Cheat Lake’s library is the Cheat Area, a branch of Morgantown Public Library, which serves 105,822 people and lent 348K items last year.
What Cheat Lake’s library is like
The Morgantown Public Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Morgantown Public Library system records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $20 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 51% of loans. Print still makes up 49%. What people borrow ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
West Virginia pays a big share
26% of the budget comes from the state, and 67% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Cheat Lake’s library is a branch of Morgantown Public Library, so they cover the whole system (105,822 people), not just the Cheat Lake branch.
What’s behind Cheat Lake’s civic life grade
Cheat Lake isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Morgantown Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Cheat Lake
Cheat Lake is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
8.9%
8.9% of Cheat Lake’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 Cheat Lake’s residents live; 2022.
51% of borrowing is digital
348K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Cheat Lake’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
178,514 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 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Morgantown Public Library serves 105,822 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 36 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Morgantown Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 6 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
Cheat Area, 121 Crosby Rd., Morgantown.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Morgantown Public Library branch.
New in Cheat Lake? 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 $2.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cheat Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 16,547 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheat Lake | Cheat Area fine-free | — | 43 | — unincorporated |
| Brookhaven | 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. Cheat Area is one branch of Morgantown Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 105,822 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 Cheat Lake
Does Cheat Lake have a public library?
Yes: Cheat Area, 121 Crosby Rd., is a branch of Morgantown Public Library, which serves 105,822 people. The branch is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Morgantown 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 Cheat Lake’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Cheat Lake’s civic life grade?
Cheat Lake isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Morgantown Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Cheat Lake.
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.