Photo: Kent Sundseth · Public domainAdak’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
City of Adak Public Library serves Adak’s 72 residents. Last year it lent 165 books, movies and e-books and logged 50 visits.
What Adak’s library is like
City of Adak Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
City of Adak Public Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Most of Adak’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 70% of loans, more per resident than at 66% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 30%. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
City of Adak Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60.
Well funded, but lightly used
City of Adak Public Library spends $490 per resident, more than 99% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 96% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Alaska pays a big share
49% of the budget comes from the state, and 51% 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Adak’s civic life grade
Adak isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
70% of borrowing is digital
165 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 1,276 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
116 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
City of Adak Public Library serves 72 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at City of Adak Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Find it
City of Adak Public Library, 100 Mechanical St., Adak.
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 Adak cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $35K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9,917 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $35K 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 11 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. City of Adak Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Adak
Does Adak have a public library?
Yes. City of Adak Public Library, 100 Mechanical St., serves Adak’s 72 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 18 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is City of Adak 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 Adak’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Adak’s civic life grade?
Adak isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Adak.
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.