La Salle Hotel · Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Bryan’s library runs 4.2 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Bryan+college Station Public Library System serves Bryan’s 214,807 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 749K books, movies and e-books and logged 326K visits.
Bryan’s library, in brief
The library is a National Register landmark
Bryan Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976. Today’s library there has 25,500 square feet. The buildings ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 63% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 58% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Bryan+college Station Public Library System spends $14 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). What your card is worth ↓
Three places to borrow in Bryan
Bryan+college Station Public Library System runs three locations, and one card works at all of them. 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 Bryan’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bryan is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #367 of 539 in Texas. Bryan is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Bryan’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Bryan+college Station Public Library System spends $14 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($44K–$74K) 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 →
282 community nonprofits are registered in Bryan
3.2 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 (111 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.4%
4.4% of Bryan’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 Bryan’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1976
Bryan+college Station Public Library System, 201 E 26th St., Bryan.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bryan? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Bryan Carnegie Library
Bryan Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct 27, 1976. It is significant for its landscape design, recreation, politics and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival.
More about the building →Other libraries in Bryan
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Bryan+college Station Public Library System serves 214,807 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 71 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
749K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 183K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.5 times last year, on average.
99,110 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 Bryan last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bryan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.1M 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 61,366 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan | Bryan+college Station Public Library System fine-free | 3.5 | 54 | D |
| College Station | Larry J Ringer Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 61 | C− |
| Lake Bryan | 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 Bryan
Does Bryan have a public library?
Yes. Bryan+college Station Public Library System, 201 E 26th St., serves Bryan’s 214,807 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bryan+college Station Public Library System 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 Bryan’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 3.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Bryan’s civic life grade?
D Bryan is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #367 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 Bryan.
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.