Photo: Jb91archivist · CC BY-SA 3.0Franklin’s library lends 5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Pendleton County Public Library serves 6,143 people in and around Franklin. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
Franklin’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 102 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
West Virginia pays a big share
39% of the budget comes from the state, and 49% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Pendleton County Public Library spends $15 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 6% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 80% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Pendleton County Public Library serves 6,143 people in and around Franklin, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Franklin’s civic life grade
Franklin 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 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Pendleton County Public Library serves 6,143 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pendleton County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Franklin’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
1,797 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
Pendleton County Public Library, 256 North Main Street, Franklin.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pendleton County Public Library branch.
New in Franklin? 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 $6.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Franklin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $90K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $568K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $90K 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 3,134 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Pendleton County Public Library serves 6,143 people in and around Franklin, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Franklin.
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 Franklin
Does Franklin have a public library?
Yes. Pendleton County Public Library, 256 North Main Street, serves 6,143 people in and around Franklin (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pendleton 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 Franklin’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 5.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Franklin’s civic life grade?
Franklin 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 Franklin.
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.