Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Morgantown’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Morgantown Public Library serves 105,822 people in and around Morgantown. Last year it lent 348K books, movies and e-books and logged 129K visits.
The short version on Morgantown’s library
Morgantown Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Morgantown Public Library records 1.2 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: $20 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 51% of loans. Print still makes up 49%. What people borrow ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
West Virginia pays a big share
26% of the budget comes from the state, and 67% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Morgantown Public Library serves 105,822 people in and around Morgantown, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Morgantown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Morgantown is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #13 of 48 in West Virginia. Morgantown is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Morgantown’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
303 community nonprofits are registered in Morgantown
10.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (36 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.7%
8.7% of Morgantown’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 Morgantown’s residents live; 2022.
51% of borrowing is digital
348K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Morgantown’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
178,514 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Morgantown Public Library serves 105,822 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 36 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Morgantown Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 6 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
Morgantown Public Library, 373 Spruce Street, Morgantown.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Morgantown Public Library branch.
New in Morgantown? 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 $2.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Morgantown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 16,547 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morgantown | Morgantown Public Library fine-free | — | 58 | A |
| Westover | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Star City | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Brookhaven | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Granville | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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. Morgantown Public Library serves 105,822 people in and around Morgantown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Morgantown.
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 Morgantown
Does Morgantown have a public library?
Yes. Morgantown Public Library, 373 Spruce Street, serves 105,822 people in and around Morgantown (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Morgantown 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 Morgantown’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Morgantown’s civic life grade?
A Morgantown is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on civic life, #13 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 Morgantown.
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.