Photo: Generic1139 · CC BY-SA 3.0Terra Alta’s library runs 12 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Terra Alta Public Library serves 13,686 people in and around Terra Alta. Last year it lent 30K books, movies and e-books and logged 32K visits.
Terra Alta’s library, in brief
West Virginia pays a big share
47% of the budget comes from the state, and 38% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Terra Alta Public Library sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Terra Alta Public Library spends $10 per resident, less than 96% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 3% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 95% 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; Terra Alta Public Library serves 13,686 people in and around Terra Alta, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Terra Alta’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Terra Alta is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns. Terra Alta is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Terra Alta’s 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 Terra Alta
3.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
9.5%
9.5% of Terra Alta’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 Terra Alta’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Terra Alta Public Library serves 13,686 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Terra Alta Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
30K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Terra Alta’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
911 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
161 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
Terra Alta Public Library, 701b East State Avenue, Terra Alta.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Terra Alta Public Library branch.
New in Terra Alta? 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 $3.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Terra Alta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $143K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $525K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $143K 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 3,125 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Terra Alta Public Library serves 13,686 people in and around Terra Alta, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Terra Alta.
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 Terra Alta
Does Terra Alta have a public library?
Yes. Terra Alta Public Library, 701b East State Avenue, serves 13,686 people in and around Terra Alta (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Terra Alta 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 Terra Alta’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Terra Alta’s civic life grade?
B Terra Alta is ahead of 56% 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 Terra Alta.
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.