Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0Montesano’s library is a branch of Timberland Regional Library, which lends more per resident than 69% of systems its size
Montesano’s library is the Montesano (W. H. Abel Memorial) Library, a branch of Timberland Regional Library, which serves 547,900 people and lent 5.2M items last year.
What stands out about Montesano (W. H. Abel Memorial) Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Montesano’s civic life grade
Montesano isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Timberland Regional Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of 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 →
41 community nonprofits are registered in Montesano
9.8 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
49% of borrowing is digital
5.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,563,949 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Timberland Regional Library serves 547,900 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Timberland Regional Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Timberland Regional 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.
About 47 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
Montesano (W. H. Abel Memorial) Library, 125 Main St. S., Montesano.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Timberland Regional Library branch.
New in Montesano? 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 $2.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Montesano cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $28M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $82M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $28M 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 220,361 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montesano | Montesano (W. H. Abel Memorial) Library fine-free | — | 41 | — too few inputs |
| Brady | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Timberland Regional Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Montesano (W. H. Abel Memorial) Library is one branch of Timberland Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 547,900 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 Montesano
Does Montesano have a public library?
Yes: Montesano (W. H. Abel Memorial) Library, 125 Main St. S., is a branch of Timberland Regional Library, which serves 547,900 people. The branch is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Timberland Regional 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 Montesano’s library?
It lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 5,219 programs that drew 92,311 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Montesano’s civic life grade?
Montesano isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Timberland Regional Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Montesano.
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.