Photo: Idawriter · CC BY-SA 3.0Craigsville’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Craigsville Public Library serves 8,202 people in and around Craigsville. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,044 visits.
Craigsville’s library, in brief
Craigsville Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Craigsville Public Library records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
West Virginia pays a big share
53% of the budget comes from the state, and 27% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 246 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 42 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Craigsville Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 94% 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; Craigsville Public Library serves 8,202 people in and around Craigsville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Craigsville’s civic life grade
Craigsville 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 Craigsville 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 Craigsville
Craigsville is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
6.9%
6.9% of Craigsville’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 Craigsville’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Craigsville Public Library serves 8,202 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Craigsville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Craigsville’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
1,735 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Craigsville Public Library, 63 Library Lane, Craigsville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Craigsville Public Library branch.
New in Craigsville? 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 $2.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Craigsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $94K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $225K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $94K 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 2,784 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Craigsville Public Library serves 8,202 people in and around Craigsville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Craigsville.
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 Craigsville
Does Craigsville have a public library?
Yes. Craigsville Public Library, 63 Library Lane, serves 8,202 people in and around Craigsville (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Craigsville 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 Craigsville’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Craigsville’s civic life grade?
Craigsville 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 Craigsville Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Craigsville.
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.