Winnett Block · Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Winnett’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Petroleum County School-Community Library serves 496 people in and around Winnett. Last year it lent 7,497 books, movies and e-books.
Winnett’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 94% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
549 cards for 496 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Montana pays a big share
22% of the budget comes from the state, and 78% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Petroleum County School-Community Library serves 496 people in and around Winnett, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Winnett’s civic life grade
Winnett 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 →
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Petroleum County School-Community Library serves 496 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Petroleum County School-Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
7,497 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,362 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Petroleum County School-Community Library, 305 South Broadway, Winnett.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Petroleum County School-Community Library branch.
New in Winnett? 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 $3.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Winnett cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $26K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $96K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $26K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 549 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Petroleum County School-Community Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Petroleum County School-Community Library serves 496 people in and around Winnett, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Winnett.
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 Winnett
Does Winnett have a public library?
Yes. Petroleum County School-Community Library, 305 South Broadway, serves 496 people in and around Winnett (the survey’s count) and is open about 26 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Petroleum County School-Community Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Winnett’s library?
It lent 15.1 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital). Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Winnett’s civic life grade?
Winnett 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 Winnett.
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.