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Albert S. Heck MansionAlbert S. Heck Mansion · Photo: Coal town guy · CC BY-SA 4.0
Roane County Public Library

Spencer’s library runs 9.2 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size

Roane County Public Library serves 14,028 people in and around Spencer. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 27K visits.

110 Parking Plaza, Spencer 25276 · about 41 hours a week
B+Civic lifeAhead of 72% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (304) 927-1130 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
32K
2.3 per resident
Visits a year
27K
1.9 per resident · Below typical (3.1)
Programs & events
129
about 2 a week · 2,486 attended
Cardholders
65%
9,059 cards
Open
41 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

What Spencer’s library is like

West Virginia pays a big share

27% of the budget comes from the state, and 68% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓

Few programs for a library this size

Roane County Public Library offered 129 programs last year, 9.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓

Most programs are for young children

66% of the 129 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 41 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓

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; Roane County Public Library serves 14,028 people in and around Spencer, and its numbers cover all of them.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Spencer’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Spencer is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. Spencer is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Spencer’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.

B+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Spencer’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureB+Community nonprofits4.7 per 1,000 residents · WV towns 5.0 · U.S. 3.7BVolunteering8.4% of adults 25–44 · WV towns 8.9% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 72%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $28K–$47K (1,461)Ahead of 79%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Spencer is small (1,895 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

11 community nonprofits are registered in Spencer

4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.26 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation31.27 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans10.61 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services20.74 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.48 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.48 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.26 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.61 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

8.4%

8.4% of Spencer’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 Spencer’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.9 visits · typical 3.1Lower than 72%
Borrowing per resident 1.8 print items · typical 3.9Lower than 79%
Digital borrowing 0.5 e-items · typical 1.1Lower than 73%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.4Lower than 83%
Programs offered 9.2 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Lower than 86%
Cardholders 65% of residents · typical 40%Higher than 83%
Spending $18 per resident · typical $43Lower than 86%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Roane County Public Library serves 14,028 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Roane County Public Library system. The library’s own count.

27K
visits
1.9 per resident
32K
loans, print + digital
2.3 per resident
129
programs & events
2,486 attended
9,059
library cards
65% of people served
Every open hour8items borrowed
Every week48people at a program
Every day28Wi-Fi sessions
4 staff (full-time equivalent)18 public computers
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

The survey has no count of children’s loans for Spencer’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

From your couch

7,666 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 2 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Spencer →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–541
Ages 6–1144
Teens26
Adults12
All ages6
Little ones
0.8

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

2,486
people at programs
129
programs
The building

Find it

Roane County Public Library, 110 Parking Plaza, Spencer.

Directions(304) 927-1130
41
hours open a week
10,650
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Roane County Public Library branch.

New in Spencer? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.32 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Spencer cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$18 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $254K.

Local taxes 68%State 27%Gifts & other 5%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $591K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $254K 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 9,059 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Roane County Public Library serves 14,028 people in and around Spencer, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Spencer.

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 Spencer

Does Spencer have a public library?

Yes. Roane County Public Library, 110 Parking Plaza, serves 14,028 people in and around Spencer (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Roane County 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 Spencer’s library?

It logged 1.9 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.

What is Spencer’s civic life grade?

B+ Spencer is ahead of 72% 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 Spencer.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.