Photo: Aualliso · CC BY-SA 4.0Anaconda-Deer Lodge County’s library runs 8 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Hearst Free Library serves 9,421 people in and around Anaconda-Deer Lodge County. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 33K visits.
Anaconda-Deer Lodge County’s library, in brief
The branch is a National Register landmark
Hearst Free Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. Today’s library there has 9,000 square feet. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Hearst Free Library offered 75 programs last year, 8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
75% of the 75 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 46 for ages 0–5. 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; Hearst Free Library serves 9,421 people in and around Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Anaconda-Deer Lodge County’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Anaconda-Deer Lodge County is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #25 of 28 in Montana. Anaconda-Deer Lodge County’s 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 →
78 community nonprofits are registered in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County
8.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.0%
5.0% of Anaconda-Deer Lodge County’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.0% in the typical Montana 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 Anaconda-Deer Lodge County’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1973
Hearst Free Library, 401 Main Street, Anaconda.
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 Hearst Free Library branch.
New in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Hearst Free Library
Hearst Free Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 4, 1973. It is significant for its architecture at the state level.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hearst Free Library serves 9,421 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, for the whole Hearst Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,635 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.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Anaconda-Deer Lodge County cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $408K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $309K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $408K 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 1,574 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anaconda-Deer Lodge County | Hearst Free Library fine-free | — | 44 | B− |
| Butte-Silver Bow | Butte-Silver Bow Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | C |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Hearst Free Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Hearst Free Library serves 9,421 people in and around Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Anaconda-Deer Lodge County.
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 Anaconda-Deer Lodge County
Does Anaconda-Deer Lodge County have a public library?
Yes. Hearst Free Library, 401 Main Street, serves 9,421 people in and around Anaconda-Deer Lodge County (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hearst Free 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 Anaconda-Deer Lodge County’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Anaconda-Deer Lodge County’s civic life grade?
B− Anaconda-Deer Lodge County is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life, #25 of 28 in Montana. 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 Anaconda-Deer Lodge County.
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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.