Photo: Hayden Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Brewster’s library runs 50 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Brewster Public Library serves 18,058 people in and around Brewster. Last year it lent 58K books, movies and e-books and logged 42K visits.
What Brewster’s library is like
46% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 46% of loans, more per resident than at 62% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 54%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Brewster Public Library serves more than Brewster
The library’s service area covers 18,058 people in and around Brewster, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
69% of the 900 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 225 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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.
What’s behind Brewster’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Brewster is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #427 of 751 in New York. Brewster is graded on two of the three inputs. Brewster’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 ($47K–$79K) 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Brewster
4.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
6.3%
6.3% of Brewster’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Brewster’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Brewster Public Library serves 18,058 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
46% of borrowing is digital
58K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
26,695 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Brewster Public Library, 79 Main Street, Brewster.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Brewster? 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 $2.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brewster cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $488K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $488K 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 6,020 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Brewster
Does Brewster have a public library?
Yes. Brewster Public Library, 79 Main Street, serves 18,058 people in and around Brewster (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brewster 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 Brewster’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Brewster’s civic life grade?
C+ Brewster is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #427 of 751 in New York. 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 Brewster.
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.