Photo: Analogue Kid at en.wikipedia · Public domainRavenswood’s library is a branch of Jackson County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 82% of systems its size
Ravenswood’s library is the Ravenswood Branch, a branch of Jackson County Public Library, which serves 27,791 people and lent 70K items last year.
What Ravenswood’s library is like
West Virginia pays a big share
31% of the budget comes from the state, and 68% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
46% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 46% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
75% of the people it serves carry a library card
20,807 cards for 27,791 people, or 75%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
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; Ravenswood’s library is a branch of Jackson County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (27,791 people), not just the Ravenswood branch.
What’s behind Ravenswood’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ravenswood is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #20 of 48 in West Virginia. Ravenswood is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Ravenswood’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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Ravenswood
6.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Ravenswood’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 Ravenswood’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Jackson County Public Library serves 27,791 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Jackson County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
46% of borrowing is digital
70K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Ravenswood’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
32,017 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
Ravenswood Branch, 323 Virginia Street, Ravenswood.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Jackson County Public Library branch.
New in Ravenswood? 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 $2.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ravenswood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $494K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $494K 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 20,807 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Ravenswood Branch is one branch of Jackson County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 27,791 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 Ravenswood
Does Ravenswood have a public library?
Yes: Ravenswood Branch, 323 Virginia Street, is a branch of Jackson County Public Library, which serves 27,791 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jackson 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 Ravenswood’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Ravenswood’s civic life grade?
A− Ravenswood is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #20 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 Ravenswood.
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.