Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Poca’s library is a branch of Putnam County Library, which lends more per resident than 68% of systems its size
Poca’s library is the Poca, a branch of Putnam County Library, which serves 57,440 people and lent 376K items last year.
The short version on Poca’s library
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
53,428 cards for 57,440 people, or 93%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
West Virginia pays a big share
37% of the budget comes from the state, and 61% 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; Poca’s library is a branch of Putnam County Library, so they cover the whole system (57,440 people), not just the Poca branch.
What’s behind Poca’s civic life grade
Poca 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 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Putnam County Library serves 57,440 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 41 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Putnam County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
376K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Poca’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
48,216 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Poca, 2858 Charleston Road, Poca.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Putnam County Library branch.
New in Poca? 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 $6.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Poca cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $962K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $962K 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 53,428 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poca | Poca fine-free | — | 40 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Raymond City | 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.
- System-wide. Poca is one branch of Putnam County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 57,440 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 Poca
Does Poca have a public library?
Yes: Poca, 2858 Charleston Road, is a branch of Putnam County Library, which serves 57,440 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Putnam County 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 Poca’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Poca’s civic life grade?
Poca 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 Poca.
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.