Photo: Andrei from New York City/Juneau, U.S.A. · CC BY 2.0Utqiaġvik’s library lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Tuzzy Consortium Library serves 9,321 people in and around Utqiaġvik. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 33K visits.
What Utqiaġvik’s library is like
A well-funded system
Tuzzy Consortium Library spends $102 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 8% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 89% of similar-size libraries. 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; Tuzzy Consortium Library serves 9,321 people in and around Utqiaġvik, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Utqiaġvik’s civic life grade
Utqiaġvik isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Tuzzy Consortium Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Utqiaġvik
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Utqiaġvik cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $954K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $239K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $954K 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 5,678 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Tuzzy Consortium Library serves 9,321 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tuzzy Consortium Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
980 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Tuzzy Consortium Library, 5421 North Star Street, Barrow.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Tuzzy Consortium Library branch.
New in Utqiaġvik? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Tuzzy Consortium Library serves 9,321 people in and around Utqiaġvik, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Utqiaġvik.
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 Utqiaġvik
Does Utqiaġvik have a public library?
Yes. Tuzzy Consortium Library, 5421 North Star Street, serves 9,321 people in and around Utqiaġvik (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tuzzy Consortium 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 Utqiaġvik’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Utqiaġvik’s civic life grade?
Utqiaġvik isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Tuzzy Consortium Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Utqiaġvik.
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.