Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0Medora’s library is a branch of Dickinson Area Public Library, which lends less per resident than 66% of systems its size
Medora’s library is the Billings County Resource Center, a branch of Dickinson Area Public Library, which serves 35,297 people and lent 138K items last year.
What Medora’s library is like
Open only about 14 hours a week
The Medora branch keeps short hours: about 14 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 54% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Medora’s library is a branch of Dickinson Area Public Library, so they cover the whole system (35,297 people), not just the Medora branch.
What’s behind Medora’s civic life grade
Medora 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Dickinson Area Public Library serves 35,297 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dickinson Area Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
138K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
49,817 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Billings County Resource Center, 350 Broadway, Medora.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dickinson Area Public Library branch.
New in Medora? 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 $1.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Medora cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 9,611 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Billings County Resource Center is one branch of Dickinson Area Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 35,297 people it serves.
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 Medora
Does Medora have a public library?
Yes: Billings County Resource Center, 350 Broadway, is a branch of Dickinson Area Public Library, which serves 35,297 people. The branch is open about 14 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dickinson Area Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Medora’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Medora’s civic life grade?
Medora 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 Medora.
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.