Photo: Renegomezphotography · CC BY-SA 4.0Brownwood’s library runs 3.8 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Brownwood Community Library serves 38,709 people in and around Brownwood from 2 locations. Last year it lent 86K books, movies and e-books and logged 44K visits.
Brownwood’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Brownwood Community Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Brownwood Community Library offered 149 programs last year, 3.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
31% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 69%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 149 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Brownwood Community Library spends $8 per resident, less than 97% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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; Brownwood Community Library serves 38,709 people in and around Brownwood, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Brownwood’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Brownwood is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #229 of 539 in Texas. Brownwood is graded on two of the three inputs. Brownwood’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$61K) 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 →
77 community nonprofits are registered in Brownwood
4.1 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 (40 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.7%
5.7% of Brownwood’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 Brownwood’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Brownwood Community Library serves 38,709 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Brownwood Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
86K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,958 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.
2 places to borrow in Brownwood
Brownwood Community Library, 600 Carnegie St., Brownwood.
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 Brownwood Community Library branch.
New in Brownwood? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Brownwood Community Library branches in Brownwood
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $4.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brownwood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $314K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $314K 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 8,256 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brownwood | Brownwood Community Library fine-free | — | 47 | C |
| Early | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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. Brownwood Community Library serves 38,709 people in and around Brownwood, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Brownwood.
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 Brownwood
Does Brownwood have a public library?
Yes. Brownwood Community Library, 600 Carnegie St., serves 38,709 people in and around Brownwood (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brownwood Community 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 Brownwood’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Brownwood’s civic life grade?
C Brownwood is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #229 of 539 in Texas. 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 Brownwood.
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.