Photo: User:Rldipaolo · Public domainEdna Bay’s library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Edna Bay Community Library serves Edna Bay’s 49 residents. Last year it lent 399 books, movies and e-books and logged 715 visits.
The short version on Edna Bay’s library
Alaska pays a big share
100% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 10 hours a week
Edna Bay Community Library keeps short hours: about 10 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
Edna Bay Community Library ran 15 programs last year, about 1 a week. That’s 306 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 209 attended. Kids & programs ↓
People come to Edna Bay Community Library a lot
Edna Bay Community Library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Edna Bay Community Library serves 49 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 Edna Bay’s civic life grade
Edna 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 →
15 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Edna Bay Community Library serves 49 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Edna Bay Community Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
399 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
67 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Edna Bay Community Library, 100 School House Road, Edna Bay.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Edna Bay? 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 $1.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Edna Bay cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $7,000.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $10K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7,000 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 36 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Edna Bay
Does Edna Bay have a public library?
Yes. Edna Bay Community Library, 100 School House Road, serves Edna Bay’s 49 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 10 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Edna Bay Community 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 Edna Bay’s library?
It logged 14.6 visits and lent 8.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Edna Bay’s civic life grade?
Edna 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 Edna 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.