Photo: J.B. Chandler · CC BY-SA 3.0Scobey’s library runs 95 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Daniels County Library serves 1,661 people in and around Scobey. Last year it lent 8,695 books, movies and e-books and logged 7,980 visits.
What stands out about Daniels County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Scobey’s civic life grade
Scobey isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Daniels County Library serves 1,661 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Daniels County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
8,695 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,969 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 2 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
Daniels County Library, 203 Timmons St., Scobey.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Daniels County Library branch.
New in Scobey? 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 $1.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Scobey cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $121K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $145K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $121K 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 1,001 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Daniels County Library serves 1,661 people in and around Scobey, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Scobey.
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 Scobey
Does Scobey have a public library?
Yes. Daniels County Library, 203 Timmons St., serves 1,661 people in and around Scobey (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Daniels County Library 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 Scobey’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 5.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Scobey’s civic life grade?
Scobey isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Scobey.
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.