Tropical Park’s library is a branch of Brevard County Library System, which lends more per resident than 71% of systems its size
Tropical Park’s library is the Merritt Island Public Library, a branch of Brevard County Library System, which serves 653,548 people and lent 3.3M items last year.
What stands out about Merritt Island Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Tropical Park’s civic life grade
Tropical Park isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Brevard County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Tropical Park
Tropical Park is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
6.4%
6.4% of Tropical Park’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 Tropical Park’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 Tropical Park’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.
Find it
Merritt Island Public Library, 1195 North Courtenay Parkway, Merritt Island.
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 $2.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tropical Park 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.
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. Merritt Island Public 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 Tropical Park
Does Tropical Park have a public library?
Yes: Merritt Island Public Library, 1195 North Courtenay Parkway, is a branch of Brevard County Library System, which serves 653,548 people. The branch is open about 49 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 Tropical Park’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 Tropical Park’s civic life grade?
Tropical Park isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Brevard County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Tropical Park.
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.