Photo: Taber Andrew Bain from Richmond, VA, USA · CC BY 2.0Wellsburg’s library runs 33 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Brooke County Public Library serves 18,962 people in and around Wellsburg. Last year it lent 27K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
What Wellsburg’s library is like
Brooke County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Brooke County Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $22 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
West Virginia pays a big share
25% of the budget comes from the state, and 61% 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; Brooke County Public Library serves 18,962 people in and around Wellsburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Wellsburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wellsburg is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. Wellsburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Wellsburg’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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Wellsburg
6.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.3%
8.3% of Wellsburg’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 Wellsburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Brooke County Public Library serves 18,962 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Brooke County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
27K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Wellsburg’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
8,128 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 2 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
Brooke County Public Library, 945 Main Street, Wellsburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Brooke County Public Library branch.
New in Wellsburg? 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 $1.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wellsburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $422K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $506K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $422K 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 9,866 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellsburg | Brooke County Public Library fine-free | — | 49 | A− |
| Wells Township | Brilliant Branch fine-free | — | 35 | A |
| Steubenville Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Brooke County Public Library serves 18,962 people in and around Wellsburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wellsburg.
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 Wellsburg
Does Wellsburg have a public library?
Yes. Brooke County Public Library, 945 Main Street, serves 18,962 people in and around Wellsburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brooke County Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Wellsburg’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Wellsburg’s civic life grade?
A− Wellsburg is ahead of 82% 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 Wellsburg.
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.