Photo: J.B. Chandler · CC BY-SA 3.0Baker’s library logs 3.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Fallon County Library serves 3,049 people in and around Baker. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
What Baker’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
88% of the 92 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 40 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 63% 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; Fallon County Library serves 3,049 people in and around Baker, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Baker’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Baker is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Baker is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Baker near the top nationally; Baker’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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Baker
19.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (4 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.
15.4%
15.4% of Baker’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 Baker’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Fallon County Library serves 3,049 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fallon County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,273 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Fallon County Library, 6 West Fallon Ave, Baker.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fallon County Library branch.
New in Baker? 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 $1.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Baker cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $234K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $279K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $234K 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 1,186 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Fallon County Library serves 3,049 people in and around Baker, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Baker.
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 Baker
Does Baker have a public library?
Yes. Fallon County Library, 6 West Fallon Ave, serves 3,049 people in and around Baker (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fallon County 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 Baker’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 6.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Baker’s civic life grade?
A+ Baker is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Baker.
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.