Photo: Federal Aviation Administration, Alaska Region · Public domainBig Lake’s library lends 3.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Big Lake Public Library serves Big Lake’s 9,636 residents. Last year it lent 39K books, movies and e-books and logged 31K visits.
What’s behind Big Lake’s civic life grade
Big Lake isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary), its library’s visits weren’t reported for 2024 and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Big Lake Public Library serves 9,636 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
39K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
8,305 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Big Lake last year.
Find it
Big Lake Public Library, 3140 South Big Lake Road, Big Lake.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Big Lake? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Big Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $431K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $596K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $431K 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 3,491 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willow | Willow Public Library | 4.4 | 44 | — unincorporated |
| Big Lake | Big Lake Public Library | 4.0 | 47 | — unincorporated |
| Knik-Fairview | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Point MacKenzie | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Houston | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Meadow Lakes | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Big Lake
Does Big Lake have a public library?
Yes. Big Lake Public Library, 3140 South Big Lake Road, serves Big Lake’s 9,636 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Big Lake 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 Big Lake’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Big Lake’s civic life grade?
Big Lake isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary), its library’s visits weren’t reported for 2024 and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Big Lake.
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.