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Waldomore (Clarksburg, West Virginia)Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0
Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library

Clarksburg’s library runs 17 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size

Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library serves 52,405 people in and around Clarksburg. Last year it lent 120K books, movies and e-books and logged 115K visits.

404 W. Pike Street, Clarksburg 26301 · about 49 hours a week
ACivic lifeAhead of 92% of U.S. towns · #11 of 48 in West Virginia. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
120K
2.3 per resident
Visits a year
115K
2.2 per resident · Below typical (2.6)
Programs & events
894
about 17 a week · 12K attended
Cardholders
32%
16,912 cards
Open
49 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Clarksburg’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Clarksburg is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #11 of 48 in West Virginia. Clarksburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Clarksburg’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.

A
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Clarksburg’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 92%
FewerMore
West Virginia towns we grade (48)Ahead of 79%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $36K–$59K (4,083)Ahead of 91%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

110 community nonprofits are registered in Clarksburg

7.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture80.51 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation171.07 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans261.65 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services251.61 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education130.81 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health40.26 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals50.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other130.84 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (30 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

10.0%

10.0% of Clarksburg’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 Clarksburg’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.2 visits · typical 2.6Lower than 59%
Borrowing per resident 1.5 print items · typical 3.7Lower than 80%
Digital borrowing 0.8 e-items · typical 1.2Lower than 65%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.3Lower than 65%
Programs offered 17.1 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Higher than 60%
Cardholders 32% of residents · typical 39%Lower than 66%
Spending $17 per resident · typical $40Lower than 84%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library serves 52,405 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

A year at the library

A year at Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library system. The library’s own count.

115K
visits
2.2 per resident
120K
loans, print + digital
2.3 per resident
894
programs & events
12K attended
17K
library cards
32% of people served
Every week237people at a program
Every week2,209visits
13 staff (full-time equivalent)7 public computers
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

120K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

The survey has no count of children’s loans for Clarksburg’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

From your couch

41,127 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 7 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Clarksburg →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5237
Ages 6–11135
Teens123
Adults179
All ages220
Little ones
4.6

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

12K
people at programs
894
programs
The building

Find it

Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library, 404 W. Pike Street, Clarksburg.

49
hours open a week
30,442
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library branch.

New in Clarksburg? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.27 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clarksburg cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$17 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $914K.

Local taxes 61%State 33%Federal 2%Gifts & other 4%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $914K 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 16,912 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
ClarksburgClarksburg-Harrison Public Library fine-free—49A
BridgeportBridgeport Public Library fine-free—43A+
Nutter FortNutter Fort Public Library—37C
DespardNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
AnmooreNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
East ViewNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents

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).

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library serves 52,405 people in and around Clarksburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Clarksburg.

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 Clarksburg

Does Clarksburg have a public library?

Yes. Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library, 404 W. Pike Street, serves 52,405 people in and around Clarksburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Clarksburg-Harrison 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 Clarksburg’s library?

It logged 2.2 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Clarksburg’s civic life grade?

A Clarksburg is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #11 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 Clarksburg.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.