Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainBrooksville’s library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Brooksville Free Public Library serves Brooksville’s 933 residents. Last year it lent 2,557 books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
The short version on Brooksville’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
80% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 20%. What your card is worth ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 94% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 34%. The building also logs about 12 Wi-Fi sessions a day. Program attendance beats 83% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
More library cards than residents
1,068 cards for 933 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Brooksville’s library lends 2.7 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Castine at 11. Libraries next door ↓
A small-town library
Brooksville Free Public Library serves 933 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 28 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Brooksville’s civic life grade
Brooksville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Brooksville Free Public Library serves 933 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,557 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
74 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
86 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Brooksville last year.
Find it
Brooksville Free Public Library, 1 Town House Road, Brooksville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Brooksville? 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 $1.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brooksville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $71K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $71K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $71K 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 1,068 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Brooksville ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castine | Witherle Memorial Library fine-free | 10.5 | 40 | A+ |
| Islesboro | Alice L. Pendleton Library fine-free | 6.8 | 30 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Deer Isle | Chase Emerson Memorial Library fine-free | 3.0 | 17 | B |
| Brooksville | Brooksville Free Public Library fine-free | 2.7 | 28 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Sedgwick | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Penobscot | None of its own | — | — | A |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Brooksville
Does Brooksville have a public library?
Yes. Brooksville Free Public Library, 1 Town House Road, serves Brooksville’s 933 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brooksville Free Public 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 Brooksville’s library?
It logged 13.2 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Brooksville’s civic life grade?
Brooksville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Brooksville.
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.