Photo: AlaskaTrekker at English Wikipedia · CC BY 2.5Seldovia’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Seldovia Public Library serves Seldovia’s 250 residents. Last year it lent 2,557 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,016 visits.
The short version on Seldovia’s library
More library cards than residents
286 cards for 250 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 ↓
Seldovia uses its library more than almost any town its size
Seldovia Public Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Seldovia Public Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Seldovia Public Library serves 250 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 ↓
Alaska pays a big share
34% of the budget comes from the state, and 53% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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 Seldovia’s civic life grade
Seldovia 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 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Seldovia Public Library serves 250 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,557 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
20 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
Seldovia Public Library, 260 Seldovia Street, Seldovia.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Seldovia? 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 $2.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Seldovia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $18K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $46K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $18K 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 286 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seldovia | Seldovia Public Library fine-free | 10.2 | 16 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Seldovia Village | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Seldovia
Does Seldovia have a public library?
Yes. Seldovia Public Library, 260 Seldovia Street, serves Seldovia’s 250 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Seldovia Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Seldovia’s library?
It logged 12.1 visits and lent 10.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Seldovia’s civic life grade?
Seldovia 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 Seldovia.
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.