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Brookville, Indiana (2023)Photo: Warren LeMay · CC BY-SA 2.0
Franklin County Public Library District

Brookville’s library runs 44 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size

Franklin County Public Library District serves 10,596 people in and around Brookville. Last year it lent 57K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.

919 Main Street, Brookville 47012 · about 59 hours a week
ACivic lifeAhead of 87% of U.S. towns · #102 of 571 in Indiana. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
57K
5.4 per resident
Visits a year
39K
3.7 per resident · Above typical (3.1)
Programs & events
469
about 9 a week · 6,095 attended
Cardholders
22%
2,322 cards
Open
59 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

What Brookville’s library is like

A well-funded system

Franklin County Public Library District spends $124 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓

Kids’ books are most of what goes out

Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 63% 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; Franklin County Public Library District serves 10,596 people in and around Brookville, and its numbers cover all of them.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Brookville’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Brookville is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #102 of 571 in Indiana. Brookville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Brookville’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.

A
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Brookville’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 87%
FewerMore
Indiana towns we grade (571)Ahead of 82%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $42K–$70K (6,627)Ahead of 84%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Brookville is small (2,663 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

18 community nonprofits are registered in Brookville

7.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.38 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation62.08 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans41.59 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services20.68 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.49 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.19 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals20.79 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other20.68 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

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.

Volunteering

8.8%

8.8% of Brookville’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 Brookville’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · What your card is worth

What a library card is worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brookville cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
1
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
1
Your card saves you about
$384
a year at retail prices · $32 a month

Who pays for it
$124 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.

Local taxes 84%State 4%Gifts & other 12%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $981K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 2,322 cardholders ÷ 12.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 3.7 visits · typical 3.1Higher than 60%
Borrowing per resident 4.1 print items · typical 3.9Higher than 52%
Digital borrowing 1.2 e-items · typical 1.1Higher than 55%
Kids’ borrowing 2.4 kids’ items · typical 1.8Higher than 63%
Program attendance 0.6 attendees · typical 0.4Higher than 64%
Programs offered 44.3 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Higher than 81%
Cardholders 22% of residents · typical 40%Lower than 84%
Spending $124 per resident · typical $43Top 10%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Franklin County Public Library District serves 10,596 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Franklin County Public Library District system. The library’s own count.

39K
visits
3.7 per resident
57K
loans, print + digital
5.4 per resident
469
programs & events
6,095 attended
2,322
library cards
22% of people served
Every open hour9items borrowed
Every week117people at a program
Every day95Wi-Fi sessions
16 staff (full-time equivalent)35 public computers
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

57K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

57Kloans
Books & media (adults) 32%Kids’ books & media 45%E-books, audio & streaming 23%
From your couch

13,122 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 5 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Brookville →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–586
Ages 6–11157
Teens14
Adults54
All ages158
Little ones
1.7

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

25K
kids’ books & media borrowed
6,095
people at programs
469
programs
The building

Find it

Franklin County Public Library District, 919 Main Street, Brookville.

59
hours open a week
20,020
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Franklin County Public Library District branch.

New in Brookville? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Franklin County Public Library District serves 10,596 people in and around Brookville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Brookville.

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 Brookville

Does Brookville have a public library?

Yes. Franklin County Public Library District, 919 Main Street, serves 10,596 people in and around Brookville (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Franklin County Public Library District fine-free? Does it lend e-books?

Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Brookville’s library?

It logged 3.7 visits and lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.

What is Brookville’s civic life grade?

A Brookville is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #102 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 Brookville.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.