Photo: 10point · CC BY 2.0Tenakee Springs’ library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Dermott O'Toole Memorial Library serves Tenakee Springs’s 126 residents. Last year it lent 2,373 books, movies and e-books and logged 899 visits.
What Tenakee Springs’s library is like
Open only about 10 hours a week
Dermott O'Toole Memorial Library keeps short hours: about 10 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
More library cards than residents
139 cards for 126 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 ↓
Tenakee Springs is a town of borrowers
Dermott O'Toole Memorial Library lends 17 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 96% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Dermott O'Toole Memorial Library ran 28 programs last year, about 1 a week. That’s 222 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Dermott O'Toole Memorial Library serves 126 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 Tenakee Springs’ civic life grade
Tenakee Springs 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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,373 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
185 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Dermott O'Toole Memorial Library serves 126 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
28 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
Dermott O'Toole Memorial Library, 707 West Tenakee Avenue, Tenakee Springs.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Tenakee Springs? 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 $2.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tenakee Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $21K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $42K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $21K 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 139 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Tenakee Springs
Does Tenakee Springs have a public library?
Yes. Dermott O'Toole Memorial Library, 707 West Tenakee Avenue, serves Tenakee Springs’ 126 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 10 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dermott O'Toole Memorial 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 Tenakee Springs’ library?
It logged 7.1 visits and lent 18.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Tenakee Springs’ civic life grade?
Tenakee Springs 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 Tenakee Springs.
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.