Photo: Princetonnative · CC BY 4.0Princeton’s library lends 2.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Princeton Public Library serves 12,126 people in and around Princeton. Last year it lent 56K books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
The short version on Princeton’s library
More library cards than residents
33,211 cards for 12,126 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. 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 ↓
48% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 48% of loans, more per resident than at 79% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 52%. What people borrow ↓
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; Princeton Public Library serves 12,126 people in and around Princeton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Princeton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Princeton is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #41 of 48 in West Virginia. Princeton is graded on two of the three inputs. Princeton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Princeton
4.2 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.6%
6.6% of Princeton’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 Princeton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Princeton Public Library serves 12,126 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Princeton Public Library system. The library’s own count.
48% of borrowing is digital
56K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Princeton’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
26,694 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Princeton Public Library, 920 Mercer Street, Princeton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Princeton Public Library branch.
New in Princeton? 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 $3.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Princeton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $307K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $974K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $307K 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 33,211 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Princeton Public Library serves 12,126 people in and around Princeton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Princeton.
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 Princeton
Does Princeton have a public library?
Yes. Princeton Public Library, 920 Mercer Street, serves 12,126 people in and around Princeton (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Princeton 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 Princeton’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 4.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Princeton’s civic life grade?
C+ Princeton is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #41 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 Princeton.
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.