Photo: Antony-22 · CC BY-SA 4.0Petersburg’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Grant County Public Library serves 10,976 people in and around Petersburg. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
What Petersburg’s library is like
Grant County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Grant County Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Grant County Public Library offered 23 programs last year, 2.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
10,670 cards for 10,976 people, or 97%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
West Virginia pays a big share
30% 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; Grant County Public Library serves 10,976 people in and around Petersburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Petersburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Petersburg is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns. Petersburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Petersburg’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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Petersburg
7.0 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.
9.5%
9.5% of Petersburg’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 Petersburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Grant County Public Library serves 10,976 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Grant County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Petersburg’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
2,010 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
23 programs a year
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
Grant County Public Library, 18 Mt. View Street, Petersburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Grant County Public Library branch.
New in Petersburg? 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 $1.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Petersburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $185K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $301K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $185K 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 10,670 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Grant County Public Library serves 10,976 people in and around Petersburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Petersburg.
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 Petersburg
Does Petersburg have a public library?
Yes. Grant County Public Library, 18 Mt. View Street, serves 10,976 people in and around Petersburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Grant 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 Petersburg’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Petersburg’s civic life grade?
A Petersburg is ahead of 91% 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 Petersburg.
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.