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Queen Street Martinsburg West VirginiaPhoto: APK · CC BY 4.0
Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. Public Library

Martinsburg’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size

Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. Public Library serves 122,076 people in and around Martinsburg. Last year it lent 289K books, movies and e-books and logged 121K visits.

101 West King Street, Martinsburg 25401 · about 48 hours a week
B+Civic lifeAhead of 73% of U.S. towns · #25 of 48 in West Virginia. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (304) 267-8933 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
289K
2.4 per resident
Visits a year
121K
1 per resident · Below typical (2.1)
Programs & events
1,026
about 20 a week · 19K attended
Cardholders
37%
45,158 cards
Open
48 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

What Martinsburg’s library is like

Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. Public Library is used less than most libraries its size

Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. Public Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $14 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓

West Virginia pays a big share

32% of the budget comes from the state, and 58% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓

Runs on less money than most

Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. Public Library spends $14 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). 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; Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. Public Library serves 122,076 people in and around Martinsburg, and its numbers cover all of them.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Martinsburg’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Martinsburg is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #25 of 48 in West Virginia. Martinsburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Martinsburg’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

B+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Martinsburg’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureACommunity nonprofits7.5 per 1,000 residents · WV towns 5.0 · U.S. 3.7C+Volunteering7.0% of adults 25–44 · WV towns 8.9% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 73%
FewerMore
West Virginia towns we grade (48)Ahead of 49%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $45K–$74K (7,545)Ahead of 71%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

141 community nonprofits are registered in Martinsburg

7.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture110.59 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation251.31 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans291.53 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services231.22 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education140.76 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health140.77 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals60.31 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other191.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (35 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.

Volunteering

7.0%

7.0% of Martinsburg’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 Martinsburg’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1 visits · typical 2.1Bottom 10%
Borrowing per resident 1.6 print items · typical 3.2Lower than 83%
Digital borrowing 0.7 e-items · typical 1.4Lower than 72%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.2Lower than 70%
Programs offered 8.4 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Lower than 57%
Cardholders 37% of residents · typical 41%Lower than 59%
Spending $14 per resident · typical $36Bottom 10%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. Public Library serves 122,076 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. Public Library system. The library’s own count.

121K
visits
1 per resident
289K
loans, print + digital
2.4 per resident
1,026
programs & events
19K attended
45K
library cards
37% of people served
Every open hour42items borrowed
Every week371people at a program
Every week2,325visits
23 staff (full-time equivalent)32 public computers
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

289K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

The survey has no count of children’s loans for Martinsburg’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

From your couch

91,220 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 9 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Martinsburg →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5314
Ages 6–11179
Teens131
Adults365
All ages37
Little ones
6

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

19K
people at programs
1,026
programs
The building

Find it

Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. Public Library, 101 West King Street, Martinsburg.

Directions(304) 267-8933
48
hours open a week
24,188
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. Public Library branch.

New in Martinsburg? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.81 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Martinsburg cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$14 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.8M.

Local taxes 58%State 32%Gifts & other 10%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 45,158 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. Public Library serves 122,076 people in and around Martinsburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Martinsburg.

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 Martinsburg

Does Martinsburg have a public library?

Yes. Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. Public Library, 101 West King Street, serves 122,076 people in and around Martinsburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. 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 Martinsburg’s library?

It logged 1.0 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Martinsburg’s civic life grade?

B+ Martinsburg is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #25 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 Martinsburg.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.