Montana Room
About the Montana Room
What will your find in the Montana Room? Books about the people, places and events that shaped and continue to shape Billings,Yellowstone County and the state of Montana. Microfilm of Billings newspapers from 1882 onward. Yearbooks from city high schools. City directories and old telephone directories. In short, the resources you need to learn about your community. Materials in the Montana Room are not available for checkout, but many of the titles are also available in the nonfiction collection.
History on Video
Check out the History Playlist on our YouTube channel as we take a look back into (mostly) local history.
Just For Fun!
Here's a view of the once and the now. Broadway and 2nd Avenue North. Click on the link to see the image.
We are in search of yearbooks!
We need yearbooks from Billings Central, Senior, Skyview and West High Schools! We are working on digitizing our yearbook collection and adding them to the Montana Memory Project but we have some gaps that we would like to fill.
We are looking for yearbooks that have minimal to no writing in them and do not have missing or torn pages.
The years that we need are:
Central High School – 1945-1946, 1948-1953, 1957, & 1968-current.
Senior High School – 1909-1911, 1913, 1917, 1919, 1943, 1956, 1958, 1972, 1980, 1985, 1991, 1994, 1997-1998, 2002, 2011-2012, & 2016-current.
Skyview High School – 2014, 2016, 2018-current.
West High School – 1963, 1967, 1974-1975, 1986, 1990-1992, 1994-1996, 1998-current.
Drop off at the 2nd floor help desk or for more information call Cassie at 657-8258!
Tales from the Archives
These stories come from the archives at Billings Public Library. Buried deep in file cabinets for decades, they are emerging as library staff sort through, re-organize and index them. Some come from newspaper stories from around the state. Some are from correspondence, pamphlets, newsletters or other sources. They tell fascinating stories about the lives and experiences of our fellow Montanans.
Use of Montana Room Materials in Publications
Interested in using a photograph or document from the Montana Room? Please check out our Permissions for Use page.
Montana History & Local History Online
Can't get enough of that local stuff? Check out these great resources available online