Fort Brown · Photo: Pi3.124 · CC BY-SA 3.0Brownsville’s library logs 2.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Brownsville Public Library serves Brownsville’s 259,714 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 346K books, movies and e-books and logged 599K visits.
The short version on Brownsville’s library
Few programs for a library this size
Brownsville Public Library offered 516 programs last year, 2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Brownsville out-borrows every town next door
At 1.3 loans per resident, Brownsville leads the four towns here. The closest is Port Isabel, at 0.9. Libraries next door ↓
Most of Brownsville’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 53% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Brownsville Public Library lends 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, fewer than 96% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
The main library is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 52 items go out. The buildings ↓
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 Brownsville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Brownsville has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #384. Brownsville is graded on two of the three inputs. Brownsville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
Brownsville Public Library spends $16 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$65K) 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 →
217 community nonprofits are registered in Brownsville
1.2 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 (153 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 12 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.0%
2.0% of Brownsville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.7% in the typical Texas 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 Brownsville’s residents live; 2022.
53% of borrowing is digital
346K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 259K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
181,878 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Brownsville Public Library serves 259,714 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 52 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Brownsville last year.
2 places to borrow in Brownsville
Brownsville Public Library, 2600 Central Blvd, Brownsville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Brownsville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Brownsville
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brownsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.1M 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 101,643 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Brownsville borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brownsville | Brownsville Public Library | 1.3 | 65 | D− |
| Port Isabel | Port Isabel Public Library | 0.9 | 38 | D |
| Los Fresnos | Ethel L Whipple Memorial Library | 0.7 | 38 | D− |
| San Benito | San Benito Public Library | 0.2 | 44 | D− |
| Encantada-Ranchito-El Calaboz | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Villa Pancho | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Reid Hope King | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Del Mar Heights | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| South Point | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 Brownsville
Does Brownsville have a public library?
Yes. Brownsville Public Library, 2600 Central Blvd, serves Brownsville’s 259,714 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brownsville 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 Brownsville’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Brownsville’s civic life grade?
D− Brownsville has fewer community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. 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 Brownsville.
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.