Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Nenana’s library runs 147 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Nenana Public Library serves Nenana’s 430 residents. Last year it lent 130 books, movies and e-books and logged 325 visits.
Nenana’s library, in brief
Alaska pays a big share
78% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Nenana Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Nenana Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $16 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Nenana Public Library serves 430 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
79% of the 63 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 20 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Nenana Public Library spends $16 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Nenana’s civic life grade
Nenana 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Nenana Public Library serves 430 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Nenana Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
130 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
63 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
Nenana Public Library, 106 East 2nd Street, Nenana.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Nenana? 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 $1.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Nenana cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $7,000.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8,230 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7,000 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 120 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Nenana Public 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 Nenana
Does Nenana have a public library?
Yes. Nenana Public Library, 106 East 2nd Street, serves Nenana’s 430 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Nenana Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Nenana’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Nenana’s civic life grade?
Nenana 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 Nenana.
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.