Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Clay’s library lends 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Clay County Public Library serves 8,051 people in and around Clay. Last year it lent 6,611 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,571 visits.
Clay’s library, in brief
Clay County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Clay County Public Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $16 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
More library cards than residents
9,719 cards for 8,051 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
West Virginia pays a big share
31% of the budget comes from the state, and 59% 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; Clay County Public Library serves 8,051 people in and around Clay, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Clay’s civic life grade
Clay 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Clay County Public Library serves 8,051 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Clay County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,611 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Clay’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
2,542 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Clay County Public Library, 614 Main Street, Clay.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Clay County Public Library branch.
New in Clay? 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 $1.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clay cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $129K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $130K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $129K 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 9,719 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Clay County Public Library serves 8,051 people in and around Clay, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Clay.
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 Clay
Does Clay have a public library?
Yes. Clay County Public Library, 614 Main Street, serves 8,051 people in and around Clay (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clay County Public 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 Clay’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Clay’s civic life grade?
Clay 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 Clay.
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.