Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainGulf Breeze’s library is a branch of Santa Rosa County Library System, which lends less per resident than 75% of systems its size
Gulf Breeze’s library is the Gulf Breeze Library, a branch of Santa Rosa County Library System, which serves 203,517 people and lent 397K items last year.
What stands out about Gulf Breeze Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Gulf Breeze’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Gulf Breeze is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #8 of 273 in Florida. Gulf Breeze is graded on two of the three inputs. Gulf Breeze’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
70 community nonprofits are registered in Gulf Breeze
10.5 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.2%
7.2% of Gulf Breeze’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 Gulf Breeze’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Santa Rosa County Library System serves 203,517 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Santa Rosa County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
397K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Gulf Breeze’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 11 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Gulf Breeze Library, 1060 Shoreline Drive, Gulf Breeze.
No late fees. Good at every Santa Rosa County Library System branch.
New in Gulf Breeze? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gulf Breeze cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.1M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 78,848 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulf Breeze | Gulf Breeze Library fine-free | — | 51 | A− |
| Pensacola | West Florida Public Library System | — | 48 | B |
| Oriole Beach | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Midway | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Gulf Breeze Library is one branch of Santa Rosa County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 203,517 people it serves.
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 Gulf Breeze
Does Gulf Breeze have a public library?
Yes: Gulf Breeze Library, 1060 Shoreline Drive, is a branch of Santa Rosa County Library System, which serves 203,517 people. The branch is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Santa Rosa County Library System fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Gulf Breeze’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 2.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Gulf Breeze’s civic life grade?
A− Gulf Breeze is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 of 273 in Florida. 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 Gulf Breeze.
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.