Photo: Chris Litherland · CC BY-SA 3.0Sunset’s library runs 66 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Armand J. Brinkhaus South St. Landry Community Library serves 4,511 people in and around Sunset. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
Sunset’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
11,397 cards for 4,511 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Well funded, but lightly used
Armand J. Brinkhaus South St. Landry Community Library spends $94 per resident, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 60% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans, more per resident than at 65% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 46%. 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; Armand J. Brinkhaus South St. Landry Community Library serves 4,511 people in and around Sunset, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sunset’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sunset is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #87 of 105 in Louisiana. Sunset is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Sunset’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$76K) 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Sunset
2.3 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of Sunset’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 Sunset’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Armand J. Brinkhaus South St. Landry Community Library serves 4,511 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Armand J. Brinkhaus South St. Landry Community Library system. The library’s own count.
54% of borrowing is digital
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,648 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Armand J. Brinkhaus South St. Landry Community Library, 235 Marie Street, Sunset.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Armand J. Brinkhaus South St. Landry Community Library branch.
New in Sunset? 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 Sunset cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $422K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $207K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $422K 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 11,397 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunset | Armand J. Brinkhaus South St. Landry Community Library | — | 40 | D |
| Grand Coteau | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Armand J. Brinkhaus South St. Landry Community Library serves 4,511 people in and around Sunset, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sunset.
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 Sunset
Does Sunset have a public library?
Yes. Armand J. Brinkhaus South St. Landry Community Library, 235 Marie Street, serves 4,511 people in and around Sunset (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Armand J. Brinkhaus South St. Landry Community 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 Sunset’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sunset’s civic life grade?
D Sunset is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #87 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 Sunset.
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.