Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0West Yellowstone’s library runs 68 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
West Yellowstone Public Library serves 4,059 people in and around West Yellowstone. Last year it lent 6,214 books, movies and e-books and logged 8,440 visits.
What stands out about West Yellowstone Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind West Yellowstone’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, West Yellowstone is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. West Yellowstone is graded on two of the three inputs. West Yellowstone’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in West Yellowstone
9.6 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.
6.5%
6.5% of West Yellowstone’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 West Yellowstone’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
West Yellowstone Public Library serves 4,059 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole West Yellowstone Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,214 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,758 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
West Yellowstone Public Library, 23 N Dunraven Street, West Yellowstone.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every West Yellowstone Public Library branch.
New in West Yellowstone? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average West Yellowstone cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $275K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $122K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $275K 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 3,379 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. West Yellowstone Public Library serves 4,059 people in and around West Yellowstone, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just West Yellowstone.
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 West Yellowstone
Does West Yellowstone have a public library?
Yes. West Yellowstone Public Library, 23 N Dunraven Street, serves 4,059 people in and around West Yellowstone (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is West Yellowstone 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 West Yellowstone’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is West Yellowstone’s civic life grade?
B+ West Yellowstone is ahead of 72% 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 West Yellowstone.
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.