About

Mission


Billings Public Library: embracing, empowering, and enriching our community.

Vision


We will be known as an inclusive place that provides services and programs that enlighten, inspire, and entertain; a place that stimulates thinking, enhances one's knowledge of the world, and enriches leisure time; a place of relaxation and security; a bridge for the digital divide; and, a place where partnerships are created and expanded upon in order to build the community's future.

Values

Professionalism:  Provide services with dedication, thoroughness, timeliness, while also constantly learning new skills to share with patrons, professionals, and partners.

Collaboration:  Create an open, inclusive work environment that is built on respect, communication, integrity, and collaborative teamwork.

Innovation:  Encourage creativity and invest in our community's future.

Learning:  Understand the past in order to help shape a future for patrons, professionals, and partners.

Serving:  Provide the residents of Billings and Yellowstone County the best customer service every time all the time.

Sharing:  Promote partnerships, barrier free access to services, and provide a collection and resources of value, relevancy, and usefulness.

Trust:  Ensure fiscal stewardship, making the most efficient use of both public and private funding.


Read the current Library Strategic Plan

Library History


Billings Public Library is the public library serving Billings and Yellowstone County, Montana. Billings Public Library is a department of the City of Billings. It receives funding from both the City and Yellowstone County in order to serve all the citizens of Yellowstone County. It was established in 1901, and was originally named for Parmly Billings, eldest son of Frederick Billings, the City’s founder and namesake. The Billings family donated the first library to the young town in memory of Parmly, the only family member to ever live in the City.

Get the complete Centennial History of the Library (PDF), written by reference librarian Jim Curry and published in 2002.