Photo: Jmiller wiki · CC BY-SA 3.0Brilliant’s library is a branch of Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County, which lends more per resident than 57% of systems its size
Brilliant’s library is the Brilliant Branch, a branch of Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County, which serves 65,249 people and lent 358K items last year.
What stands out about Brilliant Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Brilliant’s civic life grade
Brilliant isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Brilliant
Brilliant is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
12.3%
12.3% of Brilliant’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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 Brilliant’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County serves 65,249 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
358K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
65,491 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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
Brilliant Branch, 103 Steuben St., Brilliant.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County branch.
New in Brilliant? 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brilliant cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.8M 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 22,547 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Brilliant Branch is one branch of Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 65,249 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 Brilliant
Does Brilliant have a public library?
Yes: Brilliant Branch, 103 Steuben St., is a branch of Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County, which serves 65,249 people. The branch is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County 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 Brilliant’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 5.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Brilliant’s civic life grade?
Brilliant isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Public Library of Steubenville & Jefferson County, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Brilliant.
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.