Bozeman Public Library
Bozeman Public Library is a municipal public library system based in Bozeman (Gallatin County), Montana, serving a legal service area of 84,410 residents from a single building and one bookmobile. Among profiled systems in Montana, it ranks first for physical checkouts, first for program attendance, second for total visits and second for electronic checkouts.
By population served it is the fourth-largest of the 79 profiled systems in Montana. Against the median system of its size class, it records only 48% of the public computers per resident and 99% more physical checkouts per resident.
Bozeman against the 559 systems of its size class
Who comes to Bozeman programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 80% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 30 people each.
Nearest in size within Montana
- Great Falls Public Library · Great Falls · 81,475 residents
- Flathead County Library Kalispell · Kalispell · 96,606 residents
- Lewis and Clark Library · Helena · 70,973 residents
- Missoula Public Library · Missoula · 117,922 residents
Bozeman in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 292,134
- Physical checkouts
- 573,906
- …of children's materials
- 314,156
- Electronic checkouts
- 238,849
- …of e-books
- 70,830
- …of e-audio
- 115,246
- Registered users
- 25,500
- Program sessions
- 1,423
- Program attendance
- 42,342
- Print volumes
- 126,603
- Audio items (physical)
- 9,153
- Video items (physical)
- 9,978
- Public computers
- 23
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 3,684
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 30.8
- Operating spending
- $3.1 million
- …on books and other materials
- $410,618
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where Bozeman gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $4.3 million, or $51.47 per resident. The local-government share sits 10 percentage points above 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)
Bozeman, building by building
The single building covers 52,000 square feet, 0.62 square feet per resident against a median of 0.62 for the size class. It is open 59 hours a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bozeman Public Library | Central library | Bozeman | 59 | 52,000 |
| Bozeman Public Library Bookmobile | Bookmobile | Bozeman | 15 |
Municipal libraries of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, one records more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Livermore Public Library in California.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sioux City Public Library | Sioux City, IA | 85,797 | 2.99 | 2.33 | $41.02 |
| William K Sanford Town Library | Loudonville, NY | 85,590 | 2.35 | 4.81 | $31.15 |
| Cicero Public Library | Cicero, IL | 85,268 | 0.23 | 0.79 | $20.97 |
| Livermore Public Library | Livermore, CA | 84,828 | 3.82 | 8.36 | $81.72 |
| Sterling Municipal Library | Baytown, TX | 84,067 | 1.65 | 2.16 | $31.48 |
| Cranston Public Library | Cranston, RI | 82,934 | 2.84 | 5.28 | $48.27 |