Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Shinnston’s library runs 23 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Lowe Public Library serves 2,328 people in and around Shinnston. Last year it lent 9,010 books, movies and e-books and logged 8,200 visits.
What Shinnston’s library is like
More library cards than residents
7,044 cards for 2,328 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 54 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 11 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. 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; Lowe Public Library serves 2,328 people in and around Shinnston, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Shinnston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Shinnston is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Shinnston
4.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
9.1%
9.1% of Shinnston’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 Shinnston’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lowe Public Library serves 2,328 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lowe Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
9,010 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Shinnston’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
54 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
Lowe Public Library, 40 Bridge St., Shinnston.
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 $2.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Shinnston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $65K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $159K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $65K 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 7,044 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shinnston | Lowe Public Library fine-free | — | 37 | B+ |
| Enterprise | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Lowe Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Lowe Public Library serves 2,328 people in and around Shinnston, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Shinnston.
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 Shinnston
Does Shinnston have a public library?
Yes. Lowe Public Library, 40 Bridge St., serves 2,328 people in and around Shinnston (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lowe Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Shinnston’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Shinnston’s civic life grade?
B+ Shinnston is ahead of 70% 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 Shinnston.
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.