Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0Huntington’s library runs 30 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Cabell County Public Library serves 94,350 people in and around Huntington from 4 locations. Last year it lent 933K books, movies and e-books and logged 247K visits.
What Huntington’s library is like
More library cards than residents
144,326 cards for 94,350 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Carnegie Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. Today’s library there has 66,150 square feet. The buildings ↓
Programs draw a crowd
79,000 people came to the system’s 2,798 programs last year: 0.8 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Four branches in Huntington
Huntington has four branches of the Cabell County Public Library, which serves 94,350 people in and around Huntington. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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; Cabell County Public Library serves 94,350 people in and around Huntington, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Huntington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Huntington is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #19 of 48 in West Virginia. Huntington is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Huntington’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 →
302 community nonprofits are registered in Huntington
6.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (60 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.3%
8.3% of Huntington’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 Huntington’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Cabell County Public Library serves 94,350 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 48 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cabell County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
933K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Huntington’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
171,911 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 34 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.
A National Register landmark since 1980
Cabell County Public Library, 455 9th Street, Huntington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Cabell County Public Library branch.
New in Huntington? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Public Library
Carnegie Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Apr 3, 1980. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Beaux Arts Classicism.
The Carnegie Public Library at Huntington, West Virginia, formerly also known as the Cabell County Public Library, is a historic library building located on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Ninth Street. It was the first public library in the county. It served the community as a library until 1980, when a new library opened across the street. The building currently houses the Huntington Junior College.
More about the building →Other Cabell County Public Library branches in Huntington
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.89 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Huntington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.2M 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 144,326 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huntington | Cabell County Public Library fine-free | — | 56 | A− |
| Union Township | Chesapeake Branch fine-free | — | 46 | D |
| Fayette Township | South Point Branch fine-free | — | 46 | D |
| Barboursville | Barboursville fine-free | — | 47 | B+ |
| Proctorville | Proctorville Branch fine-free | — | 46 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Burlington | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Ceredo | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Chesapeake | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Cabell County Public Library serves 94,350 people in and around Huntington, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Huntington.
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 Huntington
Does Huntington have a public library?
Yes. Cabell County Public Library, 455 9th Street, serves 94,350 people in and around Huntington (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cabell County 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 Huntington’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 9.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Huntington’s civic life grade?
A− Huntington is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on civic life, #19 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 Huntington.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.