Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Forsyth’s library runs 79 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Rosebud County Library serves 9,091 people in and around Forsyth. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
What stands out about Rosebud County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Forsyth’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Forsyth is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns. Forsyth is graded on two of the three inputs. Forsyth’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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Forsyth
16.2 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Forsyth’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 Forsyth’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 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 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rosebud County Library serves 9,091 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rosebud County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,733 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Rosebud County Library, 201 North 9th Avenue, Forsyth.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Rosebud County Library branch.
New in Forsyth? 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 $1.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Forsyth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $356K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $512K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $356K 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 2,513 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Rosebud County Library serves 9,091 people in and around Forsyth, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Forsyth.
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 Forsyth
Does Forsyth have a public library?
Yes. Rosebud County Library, 201 North 9th Avenue, serves 9,091 people in and around Forsyth (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rosebud County 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 Forsyth’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Forsyth’s civic life grade?
A− Forsyth is ahead of 75% 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 Forsyth.
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.