Pennsboro B&O Depot · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainPennsboro’s library is a branch of Ritchie County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 54% of systems its size
Pennsboro’s library is the Pennsboro Branch, a branch of Ritchie County Public Library, which serves 8,444 people and lent 40K items last year.
What stands out about Pennsboro Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Pennsboro’s civic life grade
Pennsboro 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 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ritchie County Public Library serves 8,444 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ritchie County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
40K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Pennsboro’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
10,344 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
Pennsboro Branch, 411 Main Street, Pennsboro.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ritchie County Public Library branch.
New in Pennsboro? 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 $1.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pennsboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $628K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $729K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $628K 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 4,047 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Pennsboro Branch is one branch of Ritchie County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 8,444 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 Pennsboro
Does Pennsboro have a public library?
Yes: Pennsboro Branch, 411 Main Street, is a branch of Ritchie County Public Library, which serves 8,444 people. The branch is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ritchie 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 Pennsboro’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Pennsboro’s civic life grade?
Pennsboro 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 Pennsboro.
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.