Cabell County Public Library
Cabell County Public Library is a multi-jurisdictional public library system based in Huntington (Cabell County), West Virginia, serving a legal service area of 94,350 residents through eight library buildings. Among the 96 profiled systems in West Virginia, it leads on physical checkouts, program attendance and print volumes and ranks second for total visits.
By population served it is the fourth-largest of the 96 profiled systems in West Virginia. Against the median system of its size class, it records 2.9 times the program attendance per resident and 2.4 times the print volumes per resident.
Cabell County against the 559 systems of its size class
Cabell County since FY 2019
Visits were 41% below the FY 2019 count of 418,238 (size-class median: −29%). Physical checkouts moved 46% up over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Cabell County programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 78% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 28 people each.
Cabell County in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 246,621
- Physical checkouts
- 761,436
- Electronic checkouts
- 171,911
- …of e-books
- 79,662
- …of e-audio
- 73,844
- Registered users
- 144,326
- Program sessions
- 2,798
- Program attendance
- 78,884
- Print volumes
- 389,387
- Audio items (physical)
- 19,872
- Video items (physical)
- 51,422
- Public computers
- 69
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 19,396
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 55.5
- Operating spending
- $4.2 million
- …on books and other materials
- $392,220
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Cabell County gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $4.7 million, or $49.31 per resident. The local-government share sits 7 percentage points above the combined share for the 96 profiled systems in West Virginia. Federal money made up 2.1% of the total.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Cabell County, building by building
The eight buildings cover 113,800 square feet in total, 1.21 square feet per resident against a median of 0.62 for the size class. The largest building is Cabell County Public Library at 66,150 square feet; the smallest is Guyandotte at 5,000. The longest hours are at Cabell County Public Library, 55.5 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabell County Public Library | Central library | Huntington | 55.5 | 66,150 |
| Barboursville | Branch | Barboursville | 46.5 | 14,650 |
| Cox Landing | Branch | Lesage | 42.5 | 5,500 |
| Gallaher Village | Branch | Huntington | 46.5 | 5,500 |
| Guyandotte | Branch | Huntington | 46.5 | 5,000 |
| Milton | Branch | Milton | 46.5 | 7,000 |
| Salt Rock | Branch | Salt Rock | 42.5 | 5,000 |
| West Huntington | Branch | Huntington | 46.5 | 5,000 |
Multi-jurisdictional libraries of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, two record more visits per resident than this one. None of them matches this system's checkouts per resident.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fontana Regional Library | Bryson City, NC | 96,253 | 3.26 | 3.41 | $38.23 |
| Williamsburg Regional Library | Williamsburg, VA | 94,582 | 5.71 | 8.00 | $84.72 |
| Appomattox Regional Library System | Hopewell, VA | 94,174 | 2.35 | 2.51 | $26.47 |
| Okefenokee Regional Library System | Waycross, GA | 93,440 | 1.07 | 1.04 | $17.68 |
| Florence-Lauderdale Public Library | Florence, AL | 92,744 | 1.17 | 1.95 | $12.65 |
| Braswell Memorial Public Library | Rocky Mount, NC | 91,931 | 1.19 | 1.18 | $23.43 |
Nearest in size within West Virginia
- Morgantown Public Library · Morgantown · 105,822 residents
- Raleigh County Public Library · Beckley · 74,591 residents
- Parkersburg/Wood Co. Public Library · Parkersburg · 73,644 residents
- Martinsburg-Berkeley Co. Public Library · Martinsburg · 122,076 residents