Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY-SA 4.0Fairbanks’ library runs 4.8 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Libraries serves 95,972 people in and around Fairbanks. Last year it lent 399K books, movies and e-books and logged 134K visits.
What Fairbanks’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Libraries offered 460 programs last year, 4.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 55% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans, more per resident than at 65% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 59%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
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; Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Libraries serves 95,972 people in and around Fairbanks, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fairbanks’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fairbanks is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #11 of 17 in Alaska. Fairbanks is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
199 community nonprofits are registered in Fairbanks
6.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (51 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.0%
11.0% of Fairbanks’ 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 Fairbanks’ residents live; 2022.
41% of borrowing is digital
399K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
163,422 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Libraries serves 95,972 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 68 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Libraries system. The library’s own count.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Fairbanks North Star Public Library, 1215 Cowles Street, Fairbanks.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Libraries branch.
New in Fairbanks? 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 Fairbanks cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.4M 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 33,932 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairbanks | Fairbanks North Star Public Library fine-free | — | 37 | A |
| College | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| South Van Horn | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Badger | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Steele Creek | 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.
- System-wide. Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Libraries serves 95,972 people in and around Fairbanks, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fairbanks.
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 Fairbanks
Does Fairbanks have a public library?
Yes. Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Libraries, 1215 Cowles Street, serves 95,972 people in and around Fairbanks (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Libraries 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 Fairbanks’ library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Fairbanks’ civic life grade?
A Fairbanks is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on civic life, #11 of 17 in Alaska. 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 Fairbanks.
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.