Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Brookville’s library lends 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Rebecca M Arthurs Memorial Library serves 13,036 people in and around Brookville. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
What Brookville’s library is like
Rebecca M Arthurs Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Rebecca M Arthurs Memorial Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $22 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
55% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 13%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
51% of the 318 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 125 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; Rebecca M Arthurs Memorial Library serves 13,036 people in and around Brookville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Brookville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Brookville is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #89 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Brookville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Brookville’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Brookville
5.9 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.0%
8.0% of Brookville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.0% in the typical Pennsylvania 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 Brookville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Rebecca M Arthurs Memorial Library serves 13,036 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rebecca M Arthurs Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,669 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Rebecca M Arthurs Memorial Library, 223 Valley St., Brookville.
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 Rebecca M Arthurs Memorial Library branch.
New in Brookville? 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 $1.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brookville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $284K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $373K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $284K 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 1,800 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookville | Rebecca M Arthurs Memorial Library fine-free | — | 43 | A− |
| Rose Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Pine Creek Township | 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.
- System-wide. Rebecca M Arthurs Memorial Library serves 13,036 people in and around Brookville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Brookville.
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 Brookville
Does Brookville have a public library?
Yes. Rebecca M Arthurs Memorial Library, 223 Valley St., serves 13,036 people in and around Brookville (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rebecca M Arthurs Memorial 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 Brookville’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Brookville’s civic life grade?
A− Brookville is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #89 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. 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 Brookville.
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.