Photo: Ajohns90 · CC BY-SA 3.0Soldotna’s library lends 28 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Joyce K. Carver Memorial Soldotna Public Library serves Soldotna’s 4,574 residents. Last year it lent 164K books, movies and e-books and logged 97K visits.
Soldotna’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
6,860 cards for 4,574 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 ↓
Soldotna uses its library more than almost any town its size
Joyce K. Carver Memorial Soldotna Public Library logs 21 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 28 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 99% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 57% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 64 items per child in Soldotna last year. Kids & programs ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Joyce K. Carver Memorial Soldotna Public Library ran 506 programs last year, about 10 a week. That’s 111 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 8,700 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 7.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. It’s 21% of all loans. 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 Soldotna’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Soldotna is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns, #7 of 17 in Alaska. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Joyce K. Carver Memorial Soldotna Public Library logged 21.2 visits per resident in FY2024, #23 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Soldotna
5.2 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.
16.3%
16.3% of Soldotna’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 Soldotna’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 Soldotna last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Joyce K. Carver Memorial Soldotna Public Library serves 4,574 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 61 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
164K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 52K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
34,390 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Joyce K. Carver Memorial Soldotna Public Library, 235 North Binkley St., Soldotna.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Soldotna? 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 $2.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Soldotna cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $986K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $986K 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 6,860 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soldotna | Joyce K. Carver Memorial Soldotna Public Library fine-free | 35.9 | 52 | A+ |
| Kalifornsky | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Funny River | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Ridgeway | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Sterling | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 count everyone. Soldotna’s 97,100 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Joyce K. Carver Memorial Soldotna 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 Soldotna
Does Soldotna have a public library?
Yes. Joyce K. Carver Memorial Soldotna Public Library, 235 North Binkley St., serves Soldotna’s 4,574 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Joyce K. Carver Memorial Soldotna Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Soldotna’s library?
It logged 21.2 visits and lent 35.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Its visits per resident rank #23 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare.
What is Soldotna’s civic life grade?
A+ Soldotna is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on civic life, #7 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 Soldotna.
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.