Photo: Aaron F. Stone · CC BY-SA 4.0Welch’s library lends 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Mcdowell Public Library serves 19,111 people in and around Welch. Last year it lent 10K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.
Welch’s library, in brief
West Virginia pays a big share
58% of the budget comes from the state, and 30% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Mcdowell Public Library lends 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, fewer than 97% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Mcdowell Public Library spends $12 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Mcdowell Public Library serves 19,111 people in and around Welch, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Welch’s civic life grade
Welch isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Mcdowell Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it.
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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Welch
6.0 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
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.
Mcdowell Public Library serves 19,111 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mcdowell Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
10K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Welch’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs 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
Mcdowell Public Library, 90 Howard St., Welch.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mcdowell Public Library branch.
New in Welch? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Welch cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $222K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $187K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $222K 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 9,966 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mcdowell Public Library serves 19,111 people in and around Welch, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Welch.
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 Welch
Does Welch have a public library?
Yes. Mcdowell Public Library, 90 Howard St., serves 19,111 people in and around Welch (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mcdowell 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 Welch’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Welch’s civic life grade?
Welch isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Mcdowell Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Welch.
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.