Photo: Parametrix, Inc. · Public domainClallam Bay’s library is a branch of North Olympic Library System, which lends more per resident than 89% of systems its size
Clallam Bay’s library is the Clallam Bay Branch Library, a branch of North Olympic Library System, which serves 78,550 people and lent 999K items last year.
What Clallam Bay’s library is like
A system of heavy borrowers
The North Olympic Library System lends 9.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. 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; Clallam Bay’s library is a branch of North Olympic Library System, so they cover the whole system (78,550 people), not just the Clallam Bay branch.
What’s behind Clallam Bay’s civic life grade
Clallam Bay 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
999K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
257,563 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
North Olympic Library System serves 78,550 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 102 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole North Olympic Library System system. The library’s own count.
About 9 kids’ programs 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
Clallam Bay Branch Library, 16990 Hwy 112, Clallam Bay.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every North Olympic Library System branch.
New in Clallam Bay? 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 $2.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clallam Bay cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6M 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 30,891 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Clallam Bay Branch Library is one branch of North Olympic Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 78,550 people it serves.
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 Clallam Bay
Does Clallam Bay have a public library?
Yes: Clallam Bay Branch Library, 16990 Hwy 112, is a branch of North Olympic Library System, which serves 78,550 people. The branch is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is North Olympic Library System 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 Clallam Bay’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 12.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Clallam Bay’s civic life grade?
Clallam Bay 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 Clallam Bay.
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.