Photo: Spatms · CC BY-SA 4.0Baton Rouge’s library logs 3.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
East Baton Rouge Parish Library serves 453,022 people in and around Baton Rouge from 7 locations. Last year it lent 2.8M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.8M visits.
Baton Rouge’s library, in brief
Open about 73 hours a week
The Baton Rouge branch is open about 73 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
East Baton Rouge Parish Library logs 3.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 3.2 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
49% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 49% of loans, more per resident than at 78% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 51%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
East Baton Rouge Parish Library spends $100 per resident a year, about three times the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (92%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Seven branches in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge has seven branches of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, which serves 453,022 people in and around Baton Rouge. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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; East Baton Rouge Parish Library serves 453,022 people in and around Baton Rouge, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Baton Rouge’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Baton Rouge is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #33 of 105 in Louisiana. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #122. Baton Rouge is graded on two of the three inputs. Baton Rouge’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) 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 →
1,274 community nonprofits are registered in Baton Rouge
5.7 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 (379 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 63 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.4%
4.4% of Baton Rouge’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical Louisiana 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 Baton Rouge’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 56 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole East Baton Rouge Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
East Baton Rouge Parish Library serves 453,022 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
49% of borrowing is digital
2.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,365,778 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 58 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.
7 places to borrow in Baton Rouge
East Baton Rouge Parish Library, 7711 Goodwood Boulevard, Baton Rouge.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every East Baton Rouge Parish Library branch.
New in Baton Rouge? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other East Baton Rouge Parish Library branches in Baton Rouge
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Baton Rouge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $46M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $46M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $46M 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 310,879 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baton Rouge | East Baton Rouge Parish Library | — | 73 | C+ |
| St. George | Jones Creek Regional Branch | — | 70 | — too few inputs |
| Monticello | Greenwell Springs Road Regional Branch Library | — | 70 | — unincorporated |
| Port Allen | West Baton Rouge Parish Library | — | — | D |
| Merrydale | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Gardere | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Brownfields | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- System-wide. East Baton Rouge Parish Library serves 453,022 people in and around Baton Rouge, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Baton Rouge.
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 Baton Rouge
Does Baton Rouge have a public library?
Yes. East Baton Rouge Parish Library, 7711 Goodwood Boulevard, serves 453,022 people in and around Baton Rouge (the survey’s count) and is open about 73 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is East Baton Rouge Parish 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 Baton Rouge’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 6.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Baton Rouge’s civic life grade?
C+ Baton Rouge is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #33 of 105 in Louisiana. 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 Baton Rouge.
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.