Photo: John Bortniak · Public domainPetersburg’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Petersburg Public Library serves Petersburg’s 3,367 residents. Last year it lent 46K books, movies and e-books and logged 32K visits.
What Petersburg’s library is like
Petersburg uses its library more than almost any town its size
Petersburg Public Library logs 9.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Petersburg Public Library ran 377 programs last year, about 7 a week. That’s 112 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
3,512 cards for 3,367 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Petersburg invests in its library
Petersburg Public Library spends $160 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (88%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
A place to get online
Petersburg Public Library logs about 47 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 15 public computers. That’s 5.1 sessions per resident a year. 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.
What’s behind Petersburg’s civic life grade
On library visits and volunteering, Petersburg is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #5 of 17 in Alaska. Petersburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Petersburg near the top nationally; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
Volunteering in Petersburg
Petersburg is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
14.7%
14.7% of Petersburg’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 Petersburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Petersburg Public Library serves 3,367 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
46K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
5,498 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 3 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 Petersburg last year.
Find it
Petersburg Public Library, 14 South Second Street, Petersburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Petersburg? 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 $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Petersburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $540K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $766K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $540K 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 3,512 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petersburg | Petersburg Public Library fine-free | 13.6 | 50 | A+ |
| Kupreanof | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Petersburg 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 Petersburg
Does Petersburg have a public library?
Yes. Petersburg Public Library, 14 South Second Street, serves Petersburg’s 3,367 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Petersburg Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Petersburg’s library?
It logged 9.5 visits and lent 13.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Petersburg’s civic life grade?
A+ Petersburg is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #5 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 Petersburg.
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.