Old Stone Church · Photo: Richard Cheek · Public domainLewisburg’s library lends 5.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Greenbrier County Public Library serves 7,618 people in and around Lewisburg. Last year it lent 64K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
The short version on Lewisburg’s library
More library cards than residents
13,768 cards for 7,618 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
98% of the 185 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Supreme Court Library Building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972. Today’s library there has 13,500 square feet. The building ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
39% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 23%. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 38% of all loans. 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; Greenbrier County Public Library serves 7,618 people in and around Lewisburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lewisburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lewisburg is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #1 of 48 in West Virginia. Lewisburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Lewisburg near the top nationally; Lewisburg’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 →
50 community nonprofits are registered in Lewisburg
13.1 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.4%
13.4% of Lewisburg’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 Lewisburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Greenbrier County Public Library serves 7,618 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Greenbrier County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
64K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Lewisburg’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
24,614 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.
A National Register landmark since 1972
Greenbrier County Public Library, 152 Robert W. Mccormick Drive, Lewisburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Greenbrier County Public Library branch.
New in Lewisburg? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Supreme Court Library Building
Supreme Court Library Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Feb 23, 1972. It is significant for its education, politics and social history at the state level.
Supreme Court Library Building, now known as Greenbrier County Library and Museum, is a historic library building located at Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, West Virginia. It was built in 1834, and is a two-story building built of locally fired brick. It was constructed to serve as a law library and study for the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lewisburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $312K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $312K 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 13,768 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewisburg | Greenbrier County Public Library fine-free | — | 56 | A+ |
| Fairlea | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Greenbrier County Public Library serves 7,618 people in and around Lewisburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lewisburg.
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 Lewisburg
Does Lewisburg have a public library?
Yes. Greenbrier County Public Library, 152 Robert W. Mccormick Drive, serves 7,618 people in and around Lewisburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Greenbrier 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 Lewisburg’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Lewisburg’s civic life grade?
A+ Lewisburg is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1 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 Lewisburg.
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.