Photo: SportSuburban · CC BY 2.0Townsend’s library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Broadwater School and Community Library serves 6,774 people in and around Townsend. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 28K visits.
The short version on Townsend’s library
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 84% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 76% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Broadwater School and Community Library offered 39 programs last year, 5.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 70%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Broadwater School and Community Library spends $13 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Broadwater School and Community Library serves 6,774 people in and around Townsend, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Townsend’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Townsend is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Townsend is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Townsend’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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Townsend
9.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.5%
8.5% of Townsend’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 Townsend’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Broadwater School and Community Library serves 6,774 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Broadwater School and Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,757 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
39 programs a year
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
Broadwater School and Community Library, 201 N Spruce St., Townsend.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Broadwater School and Community Library branch.
New in Townsend? 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 $4.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Townsend cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $88K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $370K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $88K 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 1,468 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Broadwater School and Community Library serves 6,774 people in and around Townsend, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Townsend.
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 Townsend
Does Townsend have a public library?
Yes. Broadwater School and Community Library, 201 N Spruce St., serves 6,774 people in and around Townsend (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Broadwater School and Community 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 Townsend’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Townsend’s civic life grade?
A Townsend 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 Townsend.
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.