Photo: Idawriter · CC BY-SA 3.0Peterstown’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Peterstown Public Library serves 5,747 people in and around Peterstown. Last year it lent 6,754 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,940 visits.
What Peterstown’s library is like
Peterstown Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Peterstown Public Library records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $12 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
West Virginia pays a big share
50% of the budget comes from the state, and 45% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Peterstown Public Library offered 23 programs last year, 4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Peterstown Public Library spends $12 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Peterstown Public Library serves 5,747 people in and around Peterstown, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Peterstown’s civic life grade
Peterstown 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Peterstown Public Library serves 5,747 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Peterstown Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,754 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Peterstown’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
804 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
Peterstown Public Library, 172 College Avenue, Peterstown.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Peterstown Public Library branch.
New in Peterstown? 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 $1.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Peterstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $68K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $116K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $68K 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 2,288 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Peterstown Public Library serves 5,747 people in and around Peterstown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Peterstown.
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 Peterstown
Does Peterstown have a public library?
Yes. Peterstown Public Library, 172 College Avenue, serves 5,747 people in and around Peterstown (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Peterstown 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 Peterstown’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Peterstown’s civic life grade?
Peterstown 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 Peterstown.
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.