Photo: Joseph from Cabin On The Road, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Valdez’s library runs 82 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Valdez Consortium Library serves Valdez’s 3,852 residents. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 18K visits.
The short version on Valdez’s library
More library cards than residents
4,198 cards for 3,852 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 ↓
Valdez invests in its library
Valdez Consortium Library spends $167 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (97%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
6,103 people came to the library’s 317 programs last year: 1.6 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Valdez Consortium Library holds 34,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years 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 Valdez’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Valdez is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #10 of 17 in Alaska. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Valdez’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
45 community nonprofits are registered in Valdez
11.7 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.3%
12.3% of Valdez’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 Valdez’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 Valdez last year.
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.
Valdez Consortium Library serves 3,852 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
5,774 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Valdez Consortium Library, 212 Fairbanks Drive, Valdez.
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 Valdez? 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 Valdez cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $645K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $457K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $645K 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 4,198 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 Valdez
Does Valdez have a public library?
Yes. Valdez Consortium Library, 212 Fairbanks Drive, serves Valdez’s 3,852 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Valdez 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 Valdez’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 6.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Valdez’s civic life grade?
A Valdez is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #10 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 Valdez.
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.