Photo: Myotus · CC BY-SA 4.0New Brighton’s library is a branch of Ramsey County Library, which lends more per resident than 92% of systems its size
New Brighton’s library is the New Brighton Library, a branch of Ramsey County Library, which serves 240,198 people and lent 3.1M items last year.
What New Brighton’s library is like
A system of heavy borrowers
The Ramsey County Library system lends 8.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. 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; New Brighton’s library is a branch of Ramsey County Library, so they cover the whole system (240,198 people), not just the New Brighton branch.
What’s behind New Brighton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, New Brighton is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #101 of 271 in Minnesota. New Brighton is graded on two of the three inputs. New Brighton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
112 community nonprofits are registered in New Brighton
4.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.3%
7.3% of New Brighton’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical Minnesota 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 New Brighton’s residents live; 2022.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,013,861 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Ramsey County Library serves 240,198 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 184 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ramsey County Library system. The library’s own count.
About 18 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
New Brighton Library, 400 10th Street NW, New Brightton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ramsey County Library branch.
New in New Brighton? 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 $3.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average New Brighton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $14M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $46M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $14M 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 152,145 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Brighton | New Brighton Library fine-free | — | 43 | B |
| Mounds View | Mounds View Library fine-free | — | 34 | C− |
| St. Anthony | St. Anthony Library fine-free | — | 47 | C |
| Arden Hills | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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. New Brighton Library is one branch of Ramsey County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 240,198 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 New Brighton
Does New Brighton have a public library?
Yes: New Brighton Library, 400 10th Street NW, is a branch of Ramsey County Library, which serves 240,198 people. The branch is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ramsey County 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 New Brighton’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 12.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is New Brighton’s civic life grade?
B New Brighton is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #101 of 271 in Minnesota. 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 New Brighton.
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.