MacKinnon Apartments · Photo: NoeHill · CC BY-SA 3.0Juneau’s library logs 5.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Juneau Public Libraries serves 31,549 people in and around Juneau from 3 locations. Last year it lent 256K books, movies and e-books and logged 174K visits.
The short version on Juneau’s library
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Juneau Public Libraries logs 5.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
Juneau Public Libraries spends $102 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) 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; Juneau Public Libraries serves 31,549 people in and around Juneau, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Juneau’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Juneau is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #9 of 17 in Alaska. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Juneau’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
275 community nonprofits are registered in Juneau
8.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (41 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.
11.9%
11.9% of Juneau’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 Juneau’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 36 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Juneau Public Libraries system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Juneau Public Libraries serves 31,549 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
256K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
78,572 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
3 places to borrow in Juneau
Downtown Public Library, 292 Marine Way, Juneau.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Juneau Public Libraries branch.
New in Juneau? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Juneau Public Libraries branches in Juneau
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Juneau cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.2M 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 15,801 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Juneau Public Libraries serves 31,549 people in and around Juneau, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Juneau.
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 Juneau
Does Juneau have a public library?
Yes. Juneau Public Libraries, 292 Marine Way, serves 31,549 people in and around Juneau (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Juneau 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 Juneau’s library?
It logged 5.5 visits and lent 8.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Juneau’s civic life grade?
A Juneau is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #9 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 Juneau.
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.