Alexander Smith House · Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 3.0Brentwood’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
The John P. Holt Brentwood Library serves Brentwood’s 45,265 residents. Last year it lent 678K books, movies and e-books and logged 209K visits.
The short version on Brentwood’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 63% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 24 items per child in Brentwood last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Brentwood is a town of borrowers
The John P. Holt Brentwood Library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
41,000 people came to the library’s 1,234 programs last year: 0.9 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
The John P. Holt Brentwood Library is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 198 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 Brentwood’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Brentwood is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #12 of 150 in Tennessee. Brentwood’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 →
365 community nonprofits are registered in Brentwood
8.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (99 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 38 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.4%
7.4% of Brentwood’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.7% in the typical Tennessee 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 Brentwood’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
The John P. Holt Brentwood Library serves 45,265 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 198 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
678K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 152K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year, on average.
205,471 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 9 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 Brentwood last year.
Find it
The John P. Holt Brentwood Library, 8109 Concord Road, Brentwood.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Brentwood? 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 $3.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brentwood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.3M 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 32,641 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brentwood | The John P. Holt Brentwood Library | 15.0 | 66 | A− |
| Nashville | Nashville Public Library fine-free | 11.8 | 53 | B− |
| Franklin | Williamson County Public Library | — | 64 | B+ |
| Nolensville | Nolensville Public Library | — | 54 | B− |
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 Brentwood
Does Brentwood have a public library?
Yes. The John P. Holt Brentwood Library, 8109 Concord Road, serves Brentwood’s 45,265 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is The John P. Holt Brentwood 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 Brentwood’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 15.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Brentwood’s civic life grade?
A− Brentwood is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #12 of 150 in Tennessee. 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 Brentwood.
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.