Photo: Lpangelrob · CC BY-SA 3.0Cantwell’s library lends 7.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Cantwell Community Library serves Cantwell’s 197 residents. Last year it lent 1,761 books, movies and e-books and logged 450 visits.
What Cantwell’s library is like
Alaska pays a big share
28% of the budget comes from the state, and 28% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 15 hours a week
Cantwell Community Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 67% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 77% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 69%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Cantwell Community Library serves 197 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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 Cantwell’s civic life grade
Cantwell 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 →
7 programs a year
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Cantwell Community Library serves 197 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1,761 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
304 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Cantwell Community Library, 299 Hawk Road, Cantwell.
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 $1.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cantwell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $23K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $25K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23K 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 160 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cantwell | Cantwell Community Library fine-free | 8.9 | 15 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Denali Park | 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.
- 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 Cantwell
Does Cantwell have a public library?
Yes. Cantwell Community Library, 299 Hawk Road, serves Cantwell’s 197 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cantwell Community Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cantwell’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 8.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Cantwell’s civic life grade?
Cantwell 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 Cantwell.
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.