Photo: Joseph from Cabin On The Road, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Pelican’s library logs 47 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Pelican Public Library serves Pelican’s 90 residents. Last year it lent 1,261 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,187 visits.
Pelican’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
187 cards for 90 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 ↓
Pelican uses its library more than almost any town its size
Pelican Public Library logs 47 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Pelican Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 14 hours a week
Pelican Public Library keeps short hours: about 14 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Pelican Public Library serves 90 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 Pelican’s civic life grade
Pelican 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Pelican Public Library serves 90 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,261 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 188 books and other items on the shelves went out about 6 times last year, on average.
139 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Find it
Pelican Public Library, 166 Salmon Way, Pelican.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Pelican? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pelican cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $30K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $25K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $30K 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 187 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Pelican’s 4,187 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Pelican
Does Pelican have a public library?
Yes. Pelican Public Library, 166 Salmon Way, serves Pelican’s 90 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 14 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pelican Public 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 Pelican’s library?
It logged 46.5 visits and lent 14.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Pelican’s civic life grade?
Pelican 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 Pelican.
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.