Photo: Scott A. Johnson · CC BY-SA 2.5Glennallen’s library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Copper Valley Community Library serves Glennallen’s 424 residents. Last year it lent 9,379 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,812 visits.
The short version on Glennallen’s library
More library cards than residents
668 cards for 424 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 ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
85% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
Glennallen is a town of borrowers
Copper Valley Community Library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 97% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Copper Valley Community Library serves 424 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 ↓
A place to get online
Copper Valley Community Library logs about 9 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 3 public computers. That’s 7.7 sessions per resident a year. 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 Glennallen’s civic life grade
Glennallen 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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
9,379 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Glennallen’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
832 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 all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Copper Valley Community Library serves 424 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Copper Valley Community Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves and hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
34 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
Copper Valley Community Library, Mile 186 Glenn Highway, Glennallen.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Glennallen? 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 $3.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Glennallen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $43K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $170K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $43K 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 668 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.
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.
- Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves and hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Copper Valley Community Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Glennallen
Does Glennallen have a public library?
Yes. Copper Valley Community Library, Mile 186 Glenn Highway, serves Glennallen’s 424 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Copper Valley Community 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 Glennallen’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 22.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Glennallen’s civic life grade?
Glennallen 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 Glennallen.
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.