Glacier County Courthouse · Photo: J.B. Chandler · CC BY-SA 3.0Cut Bank’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Glacier County Library serves 13,778 people in and around Cut Bank. Last year it lent 22K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
The short version on Cut Bank’s library
Glacier County Library is used less than most libraries its size
Glacier County Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Glacier County Library offered 78 programs last year, 5.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Glacier County Library spends $15 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 78 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 39 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; Glacier County Library serves 13,778 people in and around Cut Bank, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Cut Bank’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cut Bank is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #2 of 28 in Montana. Cut Bank is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Cut Bank near the top nationally; Cut Bank’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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Cut Bank
11.9 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 (5 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.
14.5%
14.5% of Cut Bank’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 Cut Bank’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Glacier County Library serves 13,778 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Glacier County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
22K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,162 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
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.
Find it
Glacier County Library, 21 1st Avenue SE, Cut Bank.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Glacier County Library branch.
New in Cut Bank? 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 $1.70 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cut Bank cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $200K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $340K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $200K 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 3,216 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cut Bank | Glacier County Library fine-free | — | 35 | A+ |
| Little Browning | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Glacier County Library serves 13,778 people in and around Cut Bank, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Cut Bank.
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 Cut Bank
Does Cut Bank have a public library?
Yes. Glacier County Library, 21 1st Avenue SE, serves 13,778 people in and around Cut Bank (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Glacier County Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cut Bank’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Cut Bank’s civic life grade?
A+ Cut Bank is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #2 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 Cut Bank.
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.