Photo: Sir Mildred Pierce, from North Augusta, South Carolina, USA · CC BY 2.0Nome’s library logs 4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Kegoayah Kozga Library serves Nome’s 3,506 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
Nome’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 104 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 74% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 64% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone in Nome has a card
3,125 cards for 3,506 people, or 89%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Nome invests in its library
Kegoayah Kozga Library spends $131 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Kegoayah Kozga Library holds 30,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Nome’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Nome is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #13 of 17 in Alaska. Nome’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Nome
6.3 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.4%
7.4% of Nome’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 Nome’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Nome cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $458K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $209K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $458K 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 3,125 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Kegoayah Kozga Library serves 3,506 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
1,913 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Nome last year.
Find it
Kegoayah Kozga Library, 100 West 7th Avenue, Nome.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Nome? 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Kegoayah Kozga 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 Nome
Does Nome have a public library?
Yes. Kegoayah Kozga Library, 100 West 7th Avenue, serves Nome’s 3,506 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kegoayah Kozga 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 Nome’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Nome’s civic life grade?
B+ Nome is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on civic life, #13 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 Nome.
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.