Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Blinutne assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0Pearl River’s library is a branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, which lends less per resident than 67% of systems its size
Pearl River’s library is the Pearl River Branch, a branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, which serves 277,615 people and lent 884K items last year.
What stands out about Pearl River Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Pearl River’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Pearl River is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #88 of 105 in Louisiana. Pearl River is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$71K) 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 Pearl River
1.3 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.2%
6.2% of Pearl River’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 Pearl River’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
St. Tammany Parish Library serves 277,615 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole St. Tammany Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
884K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
244,351 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 20 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
Pearl River Branch, 64580 Highway 41, Pearl River.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every St. Tammany Parish Library branch.
New in Pearl River? 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 $1.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pearl River cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $15M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 84,260 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Pearl River Branch is one branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 277,615 people it serves.
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 Pearl River
Does Pearl River have a public library?
Yes: Pearl River Branch, 64580 Highway 41, is a branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, which serves 277,615 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is St. Tammany Parish Library 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 Pearl River’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Pearl River’s civic life grade?
D Pearl River is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #88 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 Pearl River.
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.