Photo: FloNight (Sydney Poore) and Russell Poore · CC BY-SA 4.0Williamson’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Williamson Public Library serves 4,179 people in and around Williamson. Last year it lent 3,887 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,201 visits.
What Williamson’s library is like
Williamson Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Williamson Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $25 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
More library cards than residents
4,303 cards for 4,179 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 ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Williamson Public Library offered 22 programs last year, 5.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
West Virginia pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 75% 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; Williamson Public Library serves 4,179 people in and around Williamson, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Williamson’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Williamson is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #17 of 48 in West Virginia. Williamson is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Williamson’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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Williamson
8.9 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.1%
8.1% of Williamson’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 Williamson’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Williamson Public Library serves 4,179 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Williamson Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,887 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Williamson’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
402 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
22 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
Williamson Public Library, 101 Logan Street, Williamson.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Williamson Public Library branch.
New in Williamson? 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 Williamson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $105K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $70K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $105K 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 4,303 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williamson | Williamson Public Library | — | 35 | A |
| South Williamson | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Chattaroy | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Williamson Public Library serves 4,179 people in and around Williamson, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Williamson.
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 Williamson
Does Williamson have a public library?
Yes. Williamson Public Library, 101 Logan Street, serves 4,179 people in and around Williamson (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Williamson 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 Williamson’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Williamson’s civic life grade?
A Williamson is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #17 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 Williamson.
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.