Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Summersville’s library runs 9.1 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Summersville Public Library serves 8,201 people in and around Summersville. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
Summersville’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
8,864 cards for 8,201 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
81% of the 75 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 35 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
West Virginia pays a big share
28% of the budget comes from the state, and 56% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Summersville Public Library offered 75 programs last year, 9.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Summersville Public Library spends $15 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Summersville Public Library serves 8,201 people in and around Summersville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Summersville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Summersville is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #24 of 48 in West Virginia. Summersville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Summersville’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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Summersville
5.7 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Summersville’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 Summersville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Summersville Public Library serves 8,201 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Summersville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
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 Summersville’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
10,558 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
Summersville Public Library, 6201 Webster Road, Summersville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Summersville Public Library branch.
New in Summersville? 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 $4.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Summersville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $124K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $523K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $124K 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 8,864 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Summersville Public Library serves 8,201 people in and around Summersville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Summersville.
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 Summersville
Does Summersville have a public library?
Yes. Summersville Public Library, 6201 Webster Road, serves 8,201 people in and around Summersville (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Summersville 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 Summersville’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Summersville’s civic life grade?
B+ Summersville is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 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 Summersville.
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.