Photo: Excel23 · CC BY-SA 4.0Palm Bay’s library is a branch of Brevard County Library System, which lends more per resident than 71% of systems its size
Palm Bay’s library is the Franklin T. Degroodt Memorial Library, a branch of Brevard County Library System, which serves 653,548 people and lent 3.3M items last year.
What stands out about Franklin T. Degroodt Memorial Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Palm Bay’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Palm Bay is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #199 of 273 in Florida. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #286. Palm Bay is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$91K) 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 →
258 community nonprofits are registered in Palm Bay
2.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (136 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 22 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of Palm Bay’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 Palm Bay’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Brevard County Library System serves 653,548 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Brevard County Library System
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Brevard County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Books and media off the shelf
3.3M 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 Palm Bay’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 69 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.
2 places to borrow in Palm Bay
Franklin T. Degroodt Memorial Library, 6475 Minton Road Southwest, Palm Bay.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Brevard County Library System branches in Palm Bay
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Palm Bay cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $21M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $59M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $21M 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 257,967 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Bay | Franklin T. Degroodt Memorial Library | — | 56 | D |
| Melbourne | Melbourne Public Library | — | 60 | C+ |
| West Melbourne | West Melbourne Public Library | — | 47 | C |
| Micco | South Mainland Library-Micco | — | 39 | — unincorporated |
| Grant-Valkaria | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Malabar | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Franklin T. Degroodt Memorial Library is one branch of Brevard County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 653,548 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 Palm Bay
Does Palm Bay have a public library?
Yes: Franklin T. Degroodt Memorial Library, 6475 Minton Road Southwest, is a branch of Brevard County Library System, which serves 653,548 people. The branch is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brevard County Library System fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Palm Bay’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 5.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Palm Bay’s civic life grade?
D Palm Bay is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on civic life, #199 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 Palm Bay.
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.