Creek Street Historic District · Photo: Jerzystrzelecki · CC BY 3.0Ketchikan’s library runs 44 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Ketchikan Public Library serves 13,475 people in and around Ketchikan. Last year it lent 84K books, movies and e-books and logged 58K visits.
What Ketchikan’s library is like
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Ketchikan Public Library is above the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, with four in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
50% of the 592 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 146 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Ketchikan Public Library spends $101 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it 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; Ketchikan Public Library serves 13,475 people in and around Ketchikan, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Ketchikan’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ketchikan is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #6 of 17 in Alaska. Ketchikan is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Ketchikan’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 →
84 community nonprofits are registered in Ketchikan
10.4 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.9%
11.9% of Ketchikan’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 Ketchikan’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ketchikan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 8,761 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ketchikan Public Library serves 13,475 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ketchikan Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
84K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
21,174 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.
Find it
Ketchikan Public Library, 1110 Copper Ridge Lane, Ketchikan.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ketchikan Public Library branch.
New in Ketchikan? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Ketchikan Public Library serves 13,475 people in and around Ketchikan, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ketchikan.
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 Ketchikan
Does Ketchikan have a public library?
Yes. Ketchikan Public Library, 1110 Copper Ridge Lane, serves 13,475 people in and around Ketchikan (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ketchikan 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 Ketchikan’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 6.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Ketchikan’s civic life grade?
A+ Ketchikan is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #6 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 Ketchikan.
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.