Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0Wheeling’s library lends 4.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Ohio County Public Library serves 42,425 people in and around Wheeling. Last year it lent 299K books, movies and e-books and logged 103K visits.
Wheeling’s library, in brief
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
38,217 cards for 42,425 people, or 90%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 483 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Ohio County Public Library serves 42,425 people in and around Wheeling, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Wheeling’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wheeling is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #2 of 48 in West Virginia. Wheeling is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Wheeling near the top nationally; Wheeling’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 →
264 community nonprofits are registered in Wheeling
10.0 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 (44 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
14.3%
14.3% of Wheeling’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 Wheeling’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Ohio County Public Library serves 42,425 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 91 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ohio County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
299K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Wheeling’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
95,795 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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
Ohio County Public Library, 52 16th St., Wheeling.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ohio County Public Library branch.
New in Wheeling? 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 $2.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wheeling cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 38,217 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheeling | Ohio County Public Library fine-free | — | 63 | A+ |
| Pease Township | Martins Ferry Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | B− |
| Martins Ferry | Martins Ferry Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | B− |
| Bellaire | Bellaire Public Library fine-free | — | 52 | C+ |
| Pultney Township | Bellaire Public Library fine-free | — | 52 | C− |
| Bridgeport | Bridgeport Branch fine-free | — | 36 | B+ |
| Bethlehem | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Clearview | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Triadelphia | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Yorkville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Benwood | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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. Ohio County Public Library serves 42,425 people in and around Wheeling, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wheeling.
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 Wheeling
Does Wheeling have a public library?
Yes. Ohio County Public Library, 52 16th St., serves 42,425 people in and around Wheeling (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ohio County 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 Wheeling’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 7.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Wheeling’s civic life grade?
A+ Wheeling is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #2 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 Wheeling.
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.