by Joe Miller,
Director of Development
I’d like to start by thanking everyone who came out to the Green Bank reception for “Shadows on the Mountain” last Wed-nesday. We had a lovely crowd and another fascinating talk by artist Vivian Blackwood. The following night saw a full class for Vivian’s watercolor class.
If you’ve not yet caught the show—or taken advantage of one of Vivian’s free classes—you have three more opportunities. Classes are filling quickly—only 20 total spots remain as of this writing. Vivian will be at Durbin on May 21, May, at Linwood June 3 and at Hillsboro June 12. Call the branch you’d like to attend to reserve your spot.
Last week, I talked about the past year in development at the Pocahontas County Libraries & Visitor Information Centers. This week, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at how funding here in the county compares with libraries around the country.
According to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), operating revenue for public libraries across the country averages $44.88 per resident.
That’s an average across all libraries. But the figures vary significantly depending on the size of the library’s service area. For example, libraries that serve more than one million residents have operating revenues of around $41.28 per resident. Libraries serving fewer than 1,000 residents generally have $74.29 in operating revenue.
Libraries serving between 5,000 and 9,999 residents—the peer group for Pocahontas County Free Libraries and Visitors Information Centers—have around $49.69 in per capita operating revenue. We run a lean operation locally, coming in at $46.29 per resident. That reflects a longstanding commitment from our board and from directors both past and present to be good stewards of our county’s funding.
As a result of that leanness, we spend a slightly higher percentage of our operating budget on staff salaries than the average across West Virginia. Conversely, we spend around $2.66 per resident adding items to our collection. That’s somewhat under the state average of $2.86.
At the state level, West Virginia is a leader in library funding. The state contributes $5.36 per resident to its libraries—the sixth highest in the country.
Library use in Pocahontas County compares favorably with the rest of the country.
We average around 4.32 visits per resident. The U.S. average is 3.93. The West Virginia average is just 2.52.
Those figures represent broad use, as well. Roughly 75% of all Pocahontas County residents have a library card. That’s well above both the US (55%) and the state (51%) average. Indeed, no state has a higher percentage of registered users than Pocahontas County.
You can see, just from this quick glance, how it is that PCL & VIC was named the top rural library in the United States just a few years ago.
Unfortunately, the future is looking gloomier.
That generous funding from the state of West Virginia—as well as the studies that allow us to track our library’s effectiveness against our peers—are funded by grants from IMLS.
The President’s proposed 2026 budget eliminates IMLS and all its functions. It also eliminates the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA—the agency that funded “Shadows on the Mountain”) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH—the other main source of library grants).
Looming cuts to the Forest Service and to the National Science Foundation (a major funder of the Green Bank Observatory) threaten some of the area’s major tourist attractions, which in turn threaten the hotel and motel taxes that fund our libraries, parks and local festivals.
If you find any of this worrisome, then we’d ask you to help.
If you’re able, you can always donate directly to the library. Unrestricted donations—that is, money we can use for things like paying the electric bill or covering unemployment insurance for our staff—are the most helpful. But you can also make donations to a specific library branch or for a specific purpose.
But we know that many of you are on fixed incomes and that there are many good causes out there competing for your donations. If you’re not in a position to make donations, there are still low-cost ways you can help.
The biggest is to call your representatives in DC. Urge them to restore funding to IMLS, NEA and NEH and to vote against cuts to the National Science Foundation and the Forest Service.
Calling DC offices usually gets you a voice mail. I’ve found that calling the West Virginia offices of Rep. Miller, Sen. Capito and Sen. Justice usually results in speaking to a real person.
We at the library are proud of the services we provide and are thrilled that so many of you take advantage of those services on a regular basis.
With your help, we’ll continue that proud tradition for years to come.
