Photo: Wanetta Ayers · Public domainUnalaska’s library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Unalaska Public Library serves Unalaska’s 4,093 residents. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 17K visits.
The short version on Unalaska’s library
More library cards than residents
10,631 cards for 4,093 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 ↓
Programs are almost all for children
86% of the 95 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 47 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Unalaska invests in its library
Unalaska Public Library spends $250 per resident a year, about six times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (94%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
Unalaska Public Library is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Unalaska Public Library holds 33,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Unalaska’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Unalaska is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; Unalaska’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($99K–$165K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Unalaska
2.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Unalaska’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 Unalaska’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Unalaska Public Library serves 4,093 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 33K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
1,775 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 Unalaska last year.
Find it
Unalaska Public Library, 64 Eleanor Drive, Unalaska.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Unalaska? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Unalaska cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $307K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 10,631 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 Unalaska
Does Unalaska have a public library?
Yes. Unalaska Public Library, 64 Eleanor Drive, serves Unalaska’s 4,093 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Unalaska Public 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 Unalaska’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Unalaska’s civic life grade?
C Unalaska is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Unalaska.
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.