Jay’s library is a branch of Santa Rosa County Library System, which lends less per resident than 75% of systems its size
Jay’s library is the Jay Library, a branch of Santa Rosa County Library System, which serves 203,517 people and lent 397K items last year.
What stands out about Jay Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Jay’s civic life grade
Jay isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
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 Jay’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
Jay Library, 5259 Booker Lane, Jay.
No late fees. Good at every Santa Rosa County Library System branch.
New in Jay? 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 Jay 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.
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. Jay 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 Jay
Does Jay have a public library?
Yes: Jay Library, 5259 Booker Lane, is a branch of Santa Rosa County Library System, which serves 203,517 people. The branch is open about 50 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 Jay’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 Jay’s civic life grade?
Jay isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Jay.
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.