Charles Boles House · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0Kalispell’s library runs 3.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Flathead County Library Kalispell serves 96,606 people in and around Kalispell. Last year it lent 369K print books and media and logged 224K visits.
What Kalispell’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Flathead County Library Kalispell offered 322 programs last year, 3.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
81% of the 322 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.1 a week 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; Flathead County Library Kalispell serves 96,606 people in and around Kalispell, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Kalispell’s civic life grade
Kalispell isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Flathead County Library Kalispell, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it.
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 →
221 community nonprofits are registered in Kalispell
7.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (53 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Flathead County Library Kalispell serves 96,606 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 53 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Flathead County Library Kalispell system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
369K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Flathead County Library Kalispell, 247 1st Ave East, Kalispell.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Flathead County Library Kalispell branch.
New in Kalispell? 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 $2.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kalispell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 37,669 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kalispell | Flathead County Library Kalispell fine-free | — | 47 | — too few inputs |
| Evergreen | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Flathead County Library Kalispell serves 96,606 people in and around Kalispell, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Kalispell.
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 Kalispell
Does Kalispell have a public library?
Yes. Flathead County Library Kalispell, 247 1st Ave East, serves 96,606 people in and around Kalispell (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Flathead County Library Kalispell 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 Kalispell’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 3.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Kalispell’s civic life grade?
Kalispell isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Flathead County Library Kalispell, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Kalispell.
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.