Photo: Mjrmtg · CC BY-SA 3.0Quitman’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Brooks County Public Library serves 16,273 people in and around Quitman. Last year it lent 10K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
Quitman’s library, in brief
Brooks County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Brooks County Public Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $20 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Georgia pays a big share
56% of the budget comes from the state, and 40% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 4% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 96% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Brooks County Public Library serves 16,273 people in and around Quitman, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Quitman’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Quitman is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns, #168 of 222 in Georgia. Quitman is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Quitman’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Brooks County Public Library spends $20 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Quitman
3.0 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.5%
2.5% of Quitman’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.9% in the typical Georgia 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 Quitman’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Brooks County Public Library serves 16,273 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Brooks County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
10K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
448 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 2 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
Brooks County Public Library, 404 Barwick Road, Quitman.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Brooks County Public Library branch.
New in Quitman? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Quitman cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $330K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $219K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $330K 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 5,532 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Brooks County Public Library serves 16,273 people in and around Quitman, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Quitman.
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 Quitman
Does Quitman have a public library?
Yes. Brooks County Public Library, 404 Barwick Road, serves 16,273 people in and around Quitman (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brooks County 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 Quitman’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 0.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Quitman’s civic life grade?
D Quitman is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life, #168 of 222 in Georgia. 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 Quitman.
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.