Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Williamstown’s library is a branch of Parkersburg/Wood Co. Public Library, which lends less per resident than 53% of systems its size
Williamstown’s library is the Williamstown, a branch of Parkersburg/Wood Co. Public Library, which serves 73,644 people and lent 345K items last year.
The short version on Williamstown’s library
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Federal money pays a real share
10% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 68% 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; Williamstown’s library is a branch of Parkersburg/Wood Co. Public Library, so they cover the whole system (73,644 people), not just the Williamstown branch.
What’s behind Williamstown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Williamstown is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #12 of 48 in West Virginia. Williamstown is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Williamstown
5.4 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 (2 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.
11.4%
11.4% of Williamstown’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 Williamstown’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Parkersburg/Wood Co. Public Library serves 73,644 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Parkersburg/Wood Co. Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
345K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Williamstown’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
88,720 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 9 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
Williamstown, 201 W. 5th St., Williamstown.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Parkersburg/Wood Co. Public Library branch.
New in Williamstown? 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 $2.55 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Williamstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 12,760 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williamstown | Williamstown fine-free | — | 33 | A |
| Marietta | Washington County Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | 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. Williamstown is one branch of Parkersburg/Wood Co. Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 73,644 people it serves.
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 Williamstown
Does Williamstown have a public library?
Yes: Williamstown, 201 W. 5th St., is a branch of Parkersburg/Wood Co. Public Library, which serves 73,644 people. The branch is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Parkersburg/Wood Co. 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 Williamstown’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Williamstown’s civic life grade?
A Williamstown is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on civic life, #12 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 Williamstown.
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.