Photo: Magnolia677 · CC BY-SA 3.0Man’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Buffalo Creek Memorial Library serves 9,952 people in and around Man. Last year it lent 9,829 books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
What Man’s library is like
West Virginia pays a big share
36% of the budget comes from the state, and 46% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 89 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Buffalo Creek Memorial Library offered 89 programs last year, 8.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Buffalo Creek Memorial Library spends $14 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Buffalo Creek Memorial Library serves 9,952 people in and around Man, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Man’s civic life grade
Man isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Buffalo Creek Memorial Library serves 9,952 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Buffalo Creek Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
9,829 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Man’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.
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
Buffalo Creek Memorial Library, 511 E. Mcdonald Ave., Man.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Buffalo Creek Memorial Library branch.
New in Man? 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 $1.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Man cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $141K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $187K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $141K 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 5,518 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.
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. Buffalo Creek Memorial Library serves 9,952 people in and around Man, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Man.
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 Man
Does Man have a public library?
Yes. Buffalo Creek Memorial Library, 511 E. Mcdonald Ave., serves 9,952 people in and around Man (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Buffalo Creek Memorial 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 Man’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Man’s civic life grade?
Man isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Man.
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.