Photo: US Fish and Wildlife Service · Public domainCold Bay’s library logs 21 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Cold Bay Public Library serves Cold Bay’s 57 residents. Last year it lent 590 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,200 visits.
What Cold Bay’s library is like
More library cards than residents
148 cards for 57 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Alaska pays a big share
59% of the budget comes from the state, and 41% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Cold Bay uses its library more than almost any town its size
Cold Bay Public Library logs 21 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open only about 12 hours a week
Cold Bay Public Library keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Cold Bay Public Library ran 17 programs last year, about 1 a week. That’s 298 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
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 Cold Bay’s civic life grade
Cold Bay 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Cold Bay Public Library serves 57 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
590 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 4,512 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
17 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.
Find it
Cold Bay Public Library, 10 Baranov Road, Cold Bay.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Cold Bay? The Handbook →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 Cold Bay cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $46K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $29K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $46K 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 148 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Cold Bay’s 1,200 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Cold Bay
Does Cold Bay have a public library?
Yes. Cold Bay Public Library, 10 Baranov Road, serves Cold Bay’s 57 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cold Bay Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cold Bay’s library?
It logged 21.1 visits and lent 10.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Cold Bay’s civic life grade?
Cold Bay 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 Cold Bay.
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.