Ivan Cobel House · Photo: Jatakuck · CC BY-SA 3.0Brookings’ library runs 53 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Brookings Public Library serves Brookings’s 24,312 residents. Last year it lent 271K books, movies and e-books and logged 92K visits.
Brookings’s library, in brief
The library is a National Register landmark
Carnegie Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. Today’s library there has 33,000 square feet. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 1,288 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 9.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
Brookings Public Library is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 79 items go out. The building ↓
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 Brookings’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Brookings is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #14 of 31 in South Dakota. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Brookings’ 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 →
171 community nonprofits are registered in Brookings
7.1 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 (21 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.6%
7.6% of Brookings’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.9% in the typical South Dakota 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 Brookings’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Brookings Public Library serves 24,312 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 79 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
271K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 120K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
74,646 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 18 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Brookings last year.
A National Register landmark since 1980
Brookings Public Library, 515 Third Street, Brookings.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Brookings? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Public Library
Carnegie Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 7, 1980. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Prairie Style.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brookings cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 10,801 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookings | Brookings Public Library | 11.2 | 66 | B+ |
| Brookings Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Aurora Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Medary Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Trenton Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Brookings
Does Brookings have a public library?
Yes. Brookings Public Library, 515 Third Street, serves Brookings’ 24,312 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brookings Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Brookings’ library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 11.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Brookings’ civic life grade?
B+ Brookings is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #14 of 31 in South Dakota. 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 Brookings.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.