Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Logan’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Logan Area Public Library serves 12,808 people in and around Logan. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 17K visits.
The short version on Logan’s library
Logan Area Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Logan Area Public Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $12 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
West Virginia pays a big share
47% of the budget comes from the state, and 46% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
53% of the 127 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 50 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Logan Area Public Library spends $12 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
80% of the people it serves carry a library card
10,307 cards for 12,808 people, or 80%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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; Logan Area Public Library serves 12,808 people in and around Logan, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Logan’s civic life grade
Logan isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Logan Area Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it.
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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Logan
7.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Logan Area Public Library serves 12,808 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 Logan Area Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Logan’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
1,379 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
127 programs a year
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
Logan Area Public Library, 16 Wildcat Way, Logan.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Logan Area Public Library branch.
New in Logan? 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 $2.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Logan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $157K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $320K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $157K 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 10,307 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logan | Logan Area Public Library fine-free | — | 45 | — too few inputs |
| Mount Gay-Shamrock | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Stollings | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Logan Area Public Library serves 12,808 people in and around Logan, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Logan.
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 Logan
Does Logan have a public library?
Yes. Logan Area Public Library, 16 Wildcat Way, serves 12,808 people in and around Logan (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Logan Area 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 Logan’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Logan’s civic life grade?
Logan isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Logan Area Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Logan.
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.