Photo: Mike Cline · CC BY 3.0White Sulphur Springs’ library lends 6.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Meagher County/City Library serves 1,927 people in and around White Sulphur Springs. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,200 visits.
What stands out about Meagher County/City Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind White Sulphur Springs’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, White Sulphur Springs is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. White Sulphur Springs is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put White Sulphur Springs near the top nationally; White Sulphur Springs’ 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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in White Sulphur Springs
17.8 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.
13.6%
13.6% of White Sulphur Springs’ 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 White Sulphur Springs’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Meagher County/City Library serves 1,927 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Meagher County/City Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,500 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
Meagher County/City Library, 205 SW Garfield, White Sulphur Spring.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Meagher County/City Library branch.
New in White Sulphur Springs? 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 $2.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average White Sulphur Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $105K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $252K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $105K 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 903 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Meagher County/City Library serves 1,927 people in and around White Sulphur Springs, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just White Sulphur Springs.
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 White Sulphur Springs
Does White Sulphur Springs have a public library?
Yes. Meagher County/City Library, 205 SW Garfield, serves 1,927 people in and around White Sulphur Springs (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Meagher County/City 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 White Sulphur Springs’ library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 8.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is White Sulphur Springs’ civic life grade?
A+ White Sulphur Springs is among the top 1% 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 White Sulphur Springs.
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.