Photo: Beeblebrox at en.wikipedia) · CC BY-SA 3.0Homer’s library lends 24 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Homer Public Library serves Homer’s 5,669 residents. Last year it lent 173K books, movies and e-books and logged 105K visits.
The short version on Homer’s library
More library cards than residents
11,968 cards for 5,669 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 ↓
Homer uses its library more than almost any town its size
Homer Public Library logs 19 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 24 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 99% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 60 items per child in Homer last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 6.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. It’s 21% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
15,000 people came to the library’s 418 programs last year: 2.6 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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.
What’s behind Homer’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Homer is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #2 of 17 in Alaska. All three inputs put Homer near the top nationally; Homer’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
Homer Public Library logged 18.6 visits per resident in FY2024, #36 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
104 community nonprofits are registered in Homer
17.6 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 (27 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
16.5%
16.5% of Homer’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 Homer’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 kids’ programs 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 Homer last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Homer Public Library serves 5,669 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
173K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 55K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
36,158 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Homer Public Library, 500 Hazel Avenue, Homer.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Homer? 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 $2.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Homer cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 11,968 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homer | Homer Public Library fine-free | 30.5 | 52 | A+ |
| Diamond Ridge | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Kachemak | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Homer’s 105,343 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Homer
Does Homer have a public library?
Yes. Homer Public Library, 500 Hazel Avenue, serves Homer’s 5,669 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Homer Public 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 Homer’s library?
It logged 18.6 visits and lent 30.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Homer’s civic life grade?
A+ Homer is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #2 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 Homer.
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.