Photo: Dev Dharm Khalsa / NPS · Public domainPedro Bay’s library lends 43 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Samuel B. Foss Library serves Pedro Bay’s 34 residents. Last year it lent 1,591 books, movies and e-books and logged 734 visits.
What Pedro Bay’s library is like
More library cards than residents
89 cards for 34 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Alaska pays a big share
80% of the budget comes from the state, and 20% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Pedro Bay uses its library more than almost any town its size
Samuel B. Foss Library logs 22 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 43 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 98% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open only about 10 hours a week
Samuel B. Foss Library keeps short hours: about 10 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Samuel B. Foss Library serves 34 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 ↓
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 Pedro Bay’s civic life grade
Pedro Bay 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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,591 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
126 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Samuel B. Foss Library serves 34 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
6 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
Samuel B. Foss Library, 1 Waterfront Way, Pedro Bay.
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 $1.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pedro Bay cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $23K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $27K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23K 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 89 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Pedro Bay’s 734 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Pedro Bay
Does Pedro Bay have a public library?
Yes. Samuel B. Foss Library, 1 Waterfront Way, serves Pedro Bay’s 34 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 10 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Samuel B. Foss Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Pedro Bay’s library?
It logged 21.6 visits and lent 46.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Pedro Bay’s civic life grade?
Pedro Bay 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 Pedro Bay.
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.