McMechen Lockmaster Houses on the Ohio River · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMcMechen’s library is a branch of Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 84% of systems its size
McMechen’s library is the Benwood-Mcmechen, a branch of Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library, which serves 30,591 people and lent 55K items last year.
What stands out about Benwood-Mcmechen
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind McMechen’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, McMechen is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. McMechen is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in McMechen
4.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.8%
11.8% of McMechen’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 McMechen’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.
Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library serves 30,591 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
55K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for McMechen’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
15,605 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Benwood-Mcmechen, 201 Marshall Street, Mcmechen.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library branch.
New in McMechen? 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 $1.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average McMechen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $744K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $942K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $744K 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 15,531 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McMechen | Benwood-Mcmechen fine-free | — | 30 | A |
| Pultney Township | Bellaire Public Library fine-free | — | 52 | C− |
| Bellaire | Bellaire Public Library fine-free | — | 52 | C+ |
| Benwood | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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. Benwood-Mcmechen is one branch of Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 30,591 people it serves.
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 McMechen
Does McMechen have a public library?
Yes: Benwood-Mcmechen, 201 Marshall Street, is a branch of Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library, which serves 30,591 people. The branch is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Moundsville-Marshall 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 McMechen’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is McMechen’s civic life grade?
A McMechen is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 McMechen.
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.