Brighton’s library lends 7.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Brighton Memorial Library District serves 2,260 people in and around Brighton. Last year it lent 16K print books and media and logged 6,863 visits.
What stands out about Brighton Memorial Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Brighton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Brighton is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Brighton’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($60K–$100K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Brighton
2.0 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.1%
8.1% of Brighton’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois 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 Brighton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Brighton Memorial Library District serves 2,260 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Brighton Memorial Library District system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
16K 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 Brighton’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
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
Brighton Memorial Public Library, 110 North Main Street, Brighton.
No late fees. Good at every Brighton Memorial Library District branch.
New in Brighton? 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 $3.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brighton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $85K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $305K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $85K 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 472 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Brighton Memorial Library District serves 2,260 people in and around Brighton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Brighton.
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 Brighton
Does Brighton have a public library?
Yes. Brighton Memorial Library District, 110 North Main Street, serves 2,260 people in and around Brighton (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brighton Memorial Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Brighton’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 7.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Brighton’s civic life grade?
C Brighton is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Brighton.
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.