Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Montgomery’s library is a branch of Fayette County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 75% of systems its size
Montgomery’s library is the Montgomery, a branch of Fayette County Public Library, which serves 40,488 people and lent 112K items last year.
Montgomery’s library, in brief
West Virginia pays a big share
24% of the budget comes from the state, and 74% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
78% of the people it serves carry a library card
31,388 cards for 40,488 people, or 78%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. 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; Montgomery’s library is a branch of Fayette County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (40,488 people), not just the Montgomery branch.
What’s behind Montgomery’s civic life grade
Montgomery isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Fayette County 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Montgomery
7.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: health.
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.
About 15 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Fayette County Public Library serves 40,488 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at Fayette County Public Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fayette County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
112K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Montgomery’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
36,726 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Montgomery, 507 Ferry Street, Montgomery.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fayette County Public Library branch.
New in Montgomery? 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 $2.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Montgomery cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $860K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $860K 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 31,388 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery | Montgomery | — | 35 | — too few inputs |
| Smithers | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Montgomery is one branch of Fayette County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 40,488 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 Montgomery
Does Montgomery have a public library?
Yes: Montgomery, 507 Ferry Street, is a branch of Fayette County Public Library, which serves 40,488 people. The branch is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fayette County 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 Montgomery’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Montgomery’s civic life grade?
Montgomery isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Fayette County 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 Montgomery.
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.