Photo: Nyttend · Public domainKenova’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Wayne County Public Library serves 38,982 people in and around Kenova. Last year it lent 107K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
The short version on Kenova’s library
West Virginia pays a big share
51% of the budget comes from the state, and 37% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Wayne County Public Library offered 177 programs last year, 4.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Wayne County Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Wayne County Public Library records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, below 97% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 177 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Wayne County Public Library serves 38,982 people in and around Kenova, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Kenova’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kenova is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #22 of 48 in West Virginia. Kenova is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Kenova’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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Kenova
6.5 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.9%
7.9% of Kenova’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 Kenova’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Wayne County Public Library serves 38,982 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Wayne County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
107K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Kenova’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
10,832 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
Wayne County Public Library, 1200 Oak Street, Kenova.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Wayne County Public Library branch.
New in Kenova? 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 $4.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kenova cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $374K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $374K 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 25,785 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenova | Wayne County Public Library | — | 39 | A− |
| South Point | South Point Branch fine-free | — | 46 | D |
| Fayette Township | South Point Branch fine-free | — | 46 | D |
| Catlettsburg | Catlettsburg fine-free | — | 16 | D |
| Ceredo | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Perry Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Wayne County Public Library serves 38,982 people in and around Kenova, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Kenova.
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 Kenova
Does Kenova have a public library?
Yes. Wayne County Public Library, 1200 Oak Street, serves 38,982 people in and around Kenova (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wayne 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 Kenova’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Kenova’s civic life grade?
A− Kenova is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #22 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 Kenova.
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.