Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Missoula’s library logs 4.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Missoula Public Library serves 117,922 people in and around Missoula from 2 locations. Last year it lent 776K books, movies and e-books and logged 505K visits.
The short version on Missoula’s library
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Missoula Public Library logs 4.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4.1 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Open about 71 hours a week
The Missoula branch is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
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; Missoula Public Library serves 117,922 people in and around Missoula, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Missoula’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Missoula is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #7 of 28 in Montana. Missoula is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Missoula’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 →
640 community nonprofits are registered in Missoula
8.4 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 (112 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 22 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.2%
10.2% of Missoula’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 Missoula’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 85 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Missoula Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Missoula Public Library serves 117,922 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
776K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
292,948 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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.
2 places to borrow in Missoula
Missoula Public Library, 455 E Main, Missoula.
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 Missoula Public Library branch.
New in Missoula? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Missoula Public Library branches in Missoula
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Missoula cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.1M 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 51,083 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missoula | Missoula Public Library fine-free | — | 71 | A |
| Orchard Homes | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| East Missoula | 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.
- System-wide. Missoula Public Library serves 117,922 people in and around Missoula, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Missoula.
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 Missoula
Does Missoula have a public library?
Yes. Missoula Public Library, 455 E Main, serves 117,922 people in and around Missoula (the survey’s count) and is open about 71 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Missoula 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 Missoula’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Missoula’s civic life grade?
A Missoula is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #7 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 Missoula.
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.