Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5St. Marys’ library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Pleasants County Public Library serves 7,653 people in and around St. Marys. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
What St. Marys’s library is like
Pleasants County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Pleasants County Public Library records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $19 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
West Virginia pays a big share
29% of the budget comes from the state, and 55% 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; Pleasants County Public Library serves 7,653 people in and around St. Marys, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind St. Marys’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, St. Marys is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns. St. Marys is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; St. Marys’ count of community nonprofits 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in St. Marys
2.8 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.3%
9.3% of St. Marys’ 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 St. Marys’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Pleasants County Public Library serves 7,653 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pleasants County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for St. Marys’ library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
3,671 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Pleasants County Public Library, 101 Lafayette St., St. Marys.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pleasants County Public Library branch.
New in St. Marys? 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 $1.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average St. Marys cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $142K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $257K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $142K 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 3,392 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Pleasants County Public Library serves 7,653 people in and around St. Marys, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just St. Marys.
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 St. Marys
Does St. Marys have a public library?
Yes. Pleasants County Public Library, 101 Lafayette St., serves 7,653 people in and around St. Marys (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pleasants 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 St. Marys’ library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is St. Marys’ civic life grade?
B− St. Marys is ahead of 51% 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 St. Marys.
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.