Photo: Montanabw · CC BY-SA 3.0Great Falls’ library runs 4.4 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Great Falls Public Library serves 81,475 people in and around Great Falls. Last year it lent 273K books, movies and e-books and logged 112K visits.
The short version on Great Falls’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Great Falls Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Great Falls Public Library offered 361 programs last year, 4.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. 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; Great Falls Public Library serves 81,475 people in and around Great Falls, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Great Falls’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Great Falls is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #18 of 28 in Montana. Great Falls is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Great Falls’ 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 →
348 community nonprofits are registered in Great Falls
5.8 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 (83 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Great Falls’ 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 Great Falls’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Great Falls Public Library serves 81,475 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 81 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Great Falls Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
273K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
84,151 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Great Falls Public Library, 301 2nd Ave North, Great Falls.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Great Falls Public Library branch.
New in Great Falls? 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 $1.90 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Great Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 17,988 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Falls | Great Falls Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | B+ |
| Black Eagle | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Malmstrom AFB | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Gibson Flats | 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. Great Falls Public Library serves 81,475 people in and around Great Falls, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Great Falls.
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 Great Falls
Does Great Falls have a public library?
Yes. Great Falls Public Library, 301 2nd Ave North, serves 81,475 people in and around Great Falls (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Great Falls Public 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 Great Falls’ library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Great Falls’ civic life grade?
B+ Great Falls is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #18 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 Great Falls.
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.