Helena has no public library of its own; the nearest is Carmen Public Library in Carmen, 10.7 miles away
Helena doesn’t have a public library of its own. The closest is Carmen Public Library in Carmen, 10.7 miles away. Many small-town libraries give cards to neighbors, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
C+Civic lifeAhead of 35% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.Libraries for Helena, in brief
Helena borrows from the libraries next door
Helena has no public library of its own, but Carmen Public Library is 11 miles away in Carmen. Many small-town libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead. Nearest libraries ↓
The closest isn’t the one open longest
Carmen Public Library is nearest, open about 20 hours a week. Enid-Public Library of Enid and Garfield Co, 24 miles away, is open about 60 hours a week, so it may be easier to fit in. Nearest libraries ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Distances are straight-line from the town center.
What’s behind Helena’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Helena is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns. Helena is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Helena’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$77K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Helena
1.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.0%
9.0% of Helena’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.7% in the typical Oklahoma 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 Helena’s residents live; 2022.
The closest is 10.7 miles away
Closest first, measured from the center of Helena. Each one’s hours, and whether it charges late fines.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Helena
Does Helena have a public library?
No. The closest is Carmen Public Library in Carmen, 10.7 miles from the town center. Many libraries give cards to people from neighboring towns, sometimes for a yearly fee, so call ahead.
What is Helena’s civic life grade?
C+ Helena is ahead of 35% 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 Helena.
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.