The population decreases of Welch and Logan the past half century have perhaps spurred efforts to improve the educational infrastructure of these communities. As Earl Dotter's photographs show, today the McDowell County Public Library downtown provides a center for the community life. The history of this institution goes back to 1936 when local women's clubs donated several dozen books to a library housed on the mezzanine floor of Welch’s Carter Hotel Building. The collection grew into a real library which by 1961 had found a home in the remodeled Norfolk and Western railroad station. A disastrous fire in 1979 destroyed not only the library but also the City Hall. Within three years a brand new complex was constructed to house municipal functions, including a sophisticated library of 75,000 volumes of books and magazines, public meeting and seminar rooms, a gallery, and a children's room wired for computers and audio-visual presentations. The Logan Area Public library had a much slower growth, but since 1997 it resides in a handsome complex including the Logan Middle School. Both libraries have benefited from grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which have enabled free internet access at WV libraries, and, along with other programs, prompted Melinda Gates to point to the state public library system as a "national model."

Since 1979, Logan has benefited from the selection of a permanent campus for the Logan County branch of the Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College in the suburb of Mt. Gay. The facility allows young folk of the region to earn two-year associate degrees and certificates in more than twenty technical and occupational career fields. A wide array of lectures and performances add to the cultural life of the community.

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