Summers County Courthouse · Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 3.0 usHinton’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Summers County Public Library serves 11,959 people in and around Hinton. Last year it lent 27K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
The short version on Hinton’s library
Programs are almost all for children
90% of the 68 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 32 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Summers County Public Library sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Summers County Public Library offered 68 programs last year, 5.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 26%. 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; Summers County Public Library serves 11,959 people in and around Hinton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hinton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hinton is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns. Hinton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Hinton’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Hinton
6.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.4%
9.4% of Hinton’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 Hinton’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Summers County Public Library serves 11,959 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Summers County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
27K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Hinton’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
6,020 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Summers County Public Library, 201 Temple St., Hinton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Summers County Public Library branch.
New in Hinton? 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 $2.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hinton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $223K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $459K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $223K 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 3,904 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Summers County Public Library serves 11,959 people in and around Hinton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hinton.
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 Hinton
Does Hinton have a public library?
Yes. Summers County Public Library, 201 Temple St., serves 11,959 people in and around Hinton (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Summers 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 Hinton’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Hinton’s civic life grade?
A Hinton is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Hinton.
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.