Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Eureka’s library is a branch of Lincoln County Public Libraries, which lends less per resident than 58% of systems its size
Eureka’s library is the Eureka Branch Library, a branch of Lincoln County Public Libraries, which serves 19,677 people and lent 76K items last year.
What stands out about Eureka Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Eureka’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Eureka is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. Eureka is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Eureka’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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Eureka
11.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
8.2%
8.2% of Eureka’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 Eureka’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lincoln County Public Libraries serves 19,677 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lincoln County Public Libraries system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
76K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,974 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Eureka Branch Library, 318 Dewey Avenue, Eureka.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Lincoln County Public Libraries branch.
New in Eureka? 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 $2.74 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Eureka cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $490K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $490K 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 6,004 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Eureka Branch Library is one branch of Lincoln County Public Libraries, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 19,677 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 Eureka
Does Eureka have a public library?
Yes: Eureka Branch Library, 318 Dewey Avenue, is a branch of Lincoln County Public Libraries, which serves 19,677 people. The branch is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lincoln County Public Libraries 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 Eureka’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Eureka’s civic life grade?
A Eureka is ahead of 88% 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 Eureka.
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.