Oscar Gill House · Photo: 61north · CC BY-SA 4.0Anchorage’s library runs 4.8 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Anchorage Public Library serves 289,653 people in and around Anchorage from 5 locations. Last year it lent 1.8M books, movies and e-books and logged 532K visits.
Anchorage’s library, in brief
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 51% of loans, more per resident than at 81% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 49%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Anchorage Public Library offered 1,392 programs last year, 4.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Five branches in Anchorage
Anchorage has five branches of the Anchorage Public Library, which serves 289,653 people in and around Anchorage. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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; Anchorage Public Library serves 289,653 people in and around Anchorage, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Anchorage’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Anchorage is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #15 of 17 in Alaska. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #55. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
1,472 community nonprofits are registered in Anchorage
5.1 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 (356 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 52 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.9%
10.9% of Anchorage’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 14.9% in the typical Alaska 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 Anchorage’s residents live; 2022.
51% of borrowing is digital
1.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
914,287 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Anchorage Public Library serves 289,653 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Anchorage Public Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Anchorage Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
About 13 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.
5 places to borrow in Anchorage
Z. J. Loussac Library, 3600 Denali Street, Anchorage.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Anchorage Public Library branch.
New in Anchorage? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Anchorage Public Library branches in Anchorage
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Anchorage cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $14M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $26M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $14M 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 118,646 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | Z. J. Loussac Library fine-free | — | — | B |
| Knik River | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Anchorage Public Library serves 289,653 people in and around Anchorage, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Anchorage.
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 Anchorage
Does Anchorage have a public library?
Yes. Anchorage Public Library, 3600 Denali Street, serves 289,653 people in and around Anchorage (the survey’s count).
Is Anchorage 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 Anchorage’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 6.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Anchorage’s civic life grade?
B Anchorage is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on civic life, #15 of 17 in Alaska. 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 Anchorage.
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.