Photo: en:User:Epolk Eric Polk · CC BY-SA 2.5Brawley’s library lends 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Brawley Public Library serves Brawley’s 28,345 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 7,843 books, movies and e-books and logged 9,818 visits.
The short version on Brawley’s library
Brawley Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Brawley Public Library records 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $16 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
100% of the 312 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Brawley Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The buildings ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people Brawley Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Brawley’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Brawley is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #244 of 448 in California. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Brawley Public Library spends $16 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($44K–$74K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
75 community nonprofits are registered in Brawley
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (22 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Brawley’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical California town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Brawley’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Brawley Public Library serves 28,345 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
7,843 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 49K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
1,678 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Brawley last year.
2 places to borrow in Brawley
Brawley Public Library, 400 Main St., Brawley.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Brawley
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brawley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $457K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $122K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $457K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 2,399 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Brawley Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Brawley
Does Brawley have a public library?
Yes. Brawley Public Library, 400 Main St., serves Brawley’s 28,345 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brawley Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Brawley’s library?
It logged 0.3 visits and lent 0.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Brawley’s civic life grade?
C− Brawley is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #244 of 448 in California. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Brawley.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.