W. T. PRESTON (snagboat) · Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0Anacortes’ library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Anacortes Public Library serves Anacortes’s 18,270 residents. Last year it lent 361K books, movies and e-books and logged 135K visits.
What Anacortes’s library is like
Anacortes ranks 2nd in Washington for borrowing
Out of 20 Washington towns with a library of their own, Anacortes comes 2nd for items borrowed per resident. How it compares ↓
Anacortes uses its library more than almost any town its size
Anacortes Public Library logs 7.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Anacortes Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977. Today’s library there has 28,000 square feet. The building ↓
44% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 44% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 56%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 44% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 28 items per child in Anacortes last year. Kids & programs ↓
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 Anacortes’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Anacortes is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #19 of 152 in Washington. Anacortes’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
134 community nonprofits are registered in Anacortes
7.5 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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Anacortes’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.7% in the typical Washington 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 Anacortes’ residents live; 2022.
44% of borrowing is digital
361K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 90K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
160,149 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 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Anacortes Public Library serves 18,270 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 158 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 5 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 Anacortes last year.
A National Register landmark since 1977
Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes.
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 Anacortes? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Anacortes Public Library
Anacortes Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct 21, 1977. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical. It was listed as part of Carnegie Libraries of Washington TR (AD); Carnegie Libraries of Washington TR.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Anacortes cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 13,811 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 Anacortes
Does Anacortes have a public library?
Yes. Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., serves Anacortes’ 18,270 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Anacortes Public 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 Anacortes’ library?
It logged 7.4 visits and lent 19.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Anacortes’ civic life grade?
A Anacortes is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #19 of 152 in Washington. 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 Anacortes.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.