Laurel Public Library
720 West. 3rd Street
PO Box 68
Laurel, MT 59044
406-628-4961

The present library is located at 720 West 3rd Street and was constructed in 1989 with grant money and donations. Peggy Arnold headed this project and wrote all of the grants. The largest grant was from the Library Services and Construction Act, a federal grant administered by the Montana State Library.

The Laurel Public Library is funded from the City of Laurel's general fund, but as is common in many communities, funding falls short of the community needs for library services. Fundraisers for additional money have included a jump-a-thon, in which several Laurel citizens including Peggy Arnold collected pledges and sky dived. The Friends of the Library conducts book sales and provides other support. The Laurel Library Trust accepts donations for the purpose of promoting the Laurel Public Library.

Exciting and challenging changes have occurred in library service. The format of items circulating has gone from print media to now include audio, video, and e-content. The Laurel Public Library has an electronic catalog that can be accessed from home and a selection of a billion books may be borrowed from other libraries. The challenge will be finding staff time to train library users on this new technology so that the public can fully utilize the services.