Photo: HMS · CC BY-SA 3.0Sutton-Alpine’s library runs 65 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Sutton Public Library/Community Resource Center serves Sutton-Alpine’s 4,600 residents. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
What’s behind Sutton-Alpine’s civic life grade
Sutton-Alpine isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library’s visits weren’t reported for 2024.
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 Sutton-Alpine
Sutton-Alpine is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
16.3%
16.3% of Sutton-Alpine’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 Sutton-Alpine’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Sutton Public Library/Community Resource Center serves 4,600 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
4,953 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Sutton-Alpine last year.
Find it
Sutton Public Library, 11301 North Chickaloon Way, Sutton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sutton-Alpine? 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 $1.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sutton-Alpine cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $362K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $376K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $362K 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 1,701 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutton-Alpine | Sutton Public Library | 5.1 | 40 | — unincorporated |
| Chickaloon | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Buffalo Soapstone | 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 Sutton-Alpine
Does Sutton-Alpine have a public library?
Yes. Sutton Public Library/Community Resource Center, 11301 North Chickaloon Way, serves Sutton-Alpine’s 4,600 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sutton Public Library/Community Resource Center 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 Sutton-Alpine’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 5.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sutton-Alpine’s civic life grade?
Sutton-Alpine isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library’s visits weren’t reported for 2024. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Sutton-Alpine.
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.