Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Big Timber’s library runs 46 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Carnegie Public Library serves 3,678 people in and around Big Timber. Last year it lent 22K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
What Big Timber’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
95% of the 168 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 51 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Carnegie Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2002. Today’s library there has 4,000 square feet. The building ↓
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; Carnegie Public Library serves 3,678 people in and around Big Timber, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Big Timber’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Big Timber is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. Big Timber is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Big Timber’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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Big Timber
23.0 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Big Timber’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 Big Timber’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2002
Carnegie Public Library, 314 Mcleod Street, Big Timber.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Carnegie Public Library branch.
New in Big Timber? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Public Library
Carnegie Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 11, 2002. It is significant for its education, exploration/settlement and architecture at the state level. Its architecture is described as Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals and Neoclassical.
The Carnegie Public Library at 314 McLeod Street (S-298) in Big Timber, Montana, United States, is a Carnegie library which was built in 1913. It has also been known as Big Timber Carnegie Library. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It was designed by architects Link & Haire in Classical Revival style.
More about the building →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.
Carnegie Public Library serves 3,678 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Carnegie Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
22K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,224 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 3 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Big Timber cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $207K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $343K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $207K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 2,561 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Carnegie Public Library serves 3,678 people in and around Big Timber, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Big Timber.
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 Big Timber
Does Big Timber have a public library?
Yes. Carnegie Public Library, 314 Mcleod Street, serves 3,678 people in and around Big Timber (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carnegie Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Big Timber’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 5.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Big Timber’s civic life grade?
A Big Timber is ahead of 94% 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 Big Timber.
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.