Photo: BrianHagan · CC BY-SA 4.0Thompson Falls’ library logs 5.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Thompson Falls Public Library serves 5,637 people in and around Thompson Falls. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 29K visits.
What stands out about Thompson Falls Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Thompson Falls’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Thompson Falls is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Thompson Falls is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Thompson 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Thompson Falls
10.2 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.7%
8.7% of Thompson 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 Thompson Falls’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Thompson Falls Public Library serves 5,637 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Thompson Falls Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
10,666 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
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
Thompson Falls Public Library, 911 Main Street, Thompson Falls.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Thompson Falls Public Library branch.
New in Thompson 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 $3.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Thompson Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $190K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $619K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $190K 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 2,889 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Thompson Falls Public Library serves 5,637 people in and around Thompson Falls, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Thompson 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 Thompson Falls
Does Thompson Falls have a public library?
Yes. Thompson Falls Public Library, 911 Main Street, serves 5,637 people in and around Thompson Falls (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Thompson Falls Public 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 Thompson Falls’ library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 6.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Thompson Falls’ civic life grade?
A Thompson Falls is ahead of 90% 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 Thompson 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.