Photo: Nyttend · Public domainBrazil’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Brazil Public Library serves 8,604 people in and around Brazil. Last year it lent 33K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
What’s behind Brazil’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Brazil is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #366 of 571 in Indiana. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Brazil
4.0 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.0%
10.0% of Brazil’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana 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 Brazil’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Brazil Public Library serves 8,604 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Brazil Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,366 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Brazil Public Library, 204 North Walnut Street, Brazil.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Brazil Public Library branch.
New in Brazil? 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 Brazil cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $624K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $519K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $624K 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 1,648 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | Brazil Public Library | — | 54 | B− |
| Brazil Township | Brazil Public Library | — | 54 | — graded with its twin city |
| Knightsville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Van Buren Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Brazil Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Brazil Public Library serves 8,604 people in and around Brazil, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Brazil.
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 Brazil
Does Brazil have a public library?
Yes. Brazil Public Library, 204 North Walnut Street, serves 8,604 people in and around Brazil (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brazil 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 Brazil’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Brazil’s civic life grade?
B− Brazil is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #366 of 571 in Indiana. 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 Brazil.
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.