Photo: U.S. Forest Service · Public domainCraig’s library lends 25 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Craig Public Library serves Craig’s 1,019 residents. Last year it lent 29K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,439 visits.
The short version on Craig’s library
More library cards than residents
2,164 cards for 1,019 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 ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 63% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 83 items per child in Craig last year. Kids & programs ↓
Craig is a town of borrowers
Craig Public Library lends 25 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 72 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Craig Public Library serves 1,019 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 44 hours a week. 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 Craig’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Craig is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Craig’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Craig
16.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.4%
8.4% of Craig’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 Craig’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Craig last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Craig Public Library serves 1,019 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
29K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
2,913 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Craig Public Library, 504 Third Street, Craig.
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 $2.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Craig cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $183K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $431K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $183K 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 2,164 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Craig
Does Craig have a public library?
Yes. Craig Public Library, 504 Third Street, serves Craig’s 1,019 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Craig 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 Craig’s library?
It logged 7.3 visits and lent 28.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Craig’s civic life grade?
A Craig is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Craig.
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.