Billings Public Library
Billings Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Billings (Yellowstone County), Montana, serving a legal service area of 157,509 residents from a single building and two bookmobiles. Among the 79 profiled systems in Montana, it ranks first for population served, first for operating spending, second for public computers and second for print volumes, but ranks third-lowest for print volumes per resident.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 31% less program attendance per resident and 30% fewer paid staff per resident.
Billings against the 360 systems of its size class
Billings, building by building
The single building covers 66,000 square feet, 0.42 square feet per resident against a median of 0.51 for the size class. It is open 63 hours a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billings Public Library | Central library | Billings | 63 | 66,000 |
| Billings Public Library Bookmobile | Bookmobile | Billings | 40 | |
| Billings Public Library Senior/Homebound Van | Bookmobile | Billings | 12 |
Billings in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 277,405
- Physical checkouts
- 472,258
- …of children's materials
- 231,584
- Electronic checkouts
- 224,751
- …of e-books
- 73,437
- …of e-audio
- 112,168
- Registered users
- 56,382
- Program sessions
- 1,065
- Program attendance
- 24,356
- Print volumes
- 167,312
- Audio items (physical)
- 9,337
- Video items (physical)
- 26,076
- Public computers
- 94
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 5,928
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 38.0
- Operating spending
- $4.6 million
- …on books and other materials
- $316,683
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Billings gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $4.9 million, or $31.27 per resident. The local-government share sits 8 percentage points below the combined share for the 77 profiled systems in Montana. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Billings since FY 2019
Visits were 21% below the FY 2019 count of 351,588 (size-class median: −29%). Physical checkouts moved 32% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Who comes to Billings programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 59% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 23 people each.
Municipal libraries of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, four record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Hillsboro Public Library in Oregon.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denton Public Library | Denton, TX | 158,349 | 3.04 | 5.51 | $43.76 |
| Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library | Edinburg, TX | 158,163 | 0.96 | 0.89 | $21.94 |
| Kansas City, Kansas Public Library | Kansas City, KS | 157,667 | 2.03 | 3.29 | $63.45 |
| Sunnyvale Public Library | Sunnyvale, CA | 157,566 | 2.47 | 9.04 | $72.11 |
| Hillsboro Public Library | Hillsboro, OR | 157,379 | 4.00 | 11.46 | $78.29 |
| Corona Public Library | Corona, CA | 156,615 | 1.42 | 2.08 | $16.16 |
Nearest in size within Montana
- Missoula Public Library · Missoula · 117,922 residents
- Flathead County Library Kalispell · Kalispell · 96,606 residents
- Bozeman Public Library · Bozeman · 84,410 residents
- Great Falls Public Library · Great Falls · 81,475 residents