Fort William H. Seward · Photo: Mike Quach · CC BY-SA 3.0Haines’ library logs 25 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Haines Borough Public Library serves 2,530 people in and around Haines. Last year it lent 41K books, movies and e-books and logged 64K visits.
What Haines’s library is like
More library cards than residents
3,212 cards for 2,530 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Haines Borough Public Library logs 25 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Eight times the programs of a typical library its size
Haines Borough Public Library ran 689 programs last year, about 13 a week. That’s 272 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 9,583 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
88% of the 689 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Haines Borough Public Library spends $135 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (97%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Haines Borough Public Library serves 2,530 people in and around Haines, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Haines’ civic life grade
Haines isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Haines Borough Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Haines
Haines is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
10.1%
10.1% of Haines’ 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 Haines’ residents live; 2022.
About 12 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Haines Borough Public Library serves 2,530 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Haines Borough Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
41K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Haines’ library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
4,691 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Haines Borough Public Library, 111 Third Avenue South, Haines.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Haines Borough Public Library branch.
New in Haines? 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 $2.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Haines cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $341K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $875K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $341K 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 3,212 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.
- Visits count everyone. Haines’ 63,761 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- System-wide. Haines Borough Public Library serves 2,530 people in and around Haines, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Haines.
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 Haines
Does Haines have a public library?
Yes. Haines Borough Public Library, 111 Third Avenue South, serves 2,530 people in and around Haines (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Haines Borough 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 Haines’ library?
It logged 25.2 visits and lent 16.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Haines’ civic life grade?
Haines isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Haines Borough Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Haines.
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.