Photo: Republic of Selmaria · CC BY-SA 4.0Madison’s library is a branch of Huntsville - Madison County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 80% of systems its size
Madison’s library is the Huntsville Public - Madison Branch Library, a branch of Huntsville - Madison County Public Library, which serves 403,565 people and lent 3M items last year.
What Madison’s library is like
Busy on a lean budget
The Huntsville - Madison County Public Library system spends $20 per resident, less than 79% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). It’s still busier than 81% of them. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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; Madison’s library is a branch of Huntsville - Madison County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (403,565 people), not just the Madison branch.
What’s behind Madison’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Madison is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #29 of 156 in Alabama. Madison is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Madison’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($101K–$168K) 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 →
198 community nonprofits are registered in Madison
3.3 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 (59 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.8%
7.8% of Madison’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.8% in the typical Alabama 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 Madison’s residents live; 2022.
About 55 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Huntsville - Madison County Public Library serves 403,565 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 122 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Huntsville - Madison County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
447,924 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Huntsville Public - Madison Branch Library, 142 Plaza Drive, Madison.
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 Huntsville - Madison County Public Library branch.
New in Madison? 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 $5.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Madison cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $8.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $44M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.2M 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 138,266 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Huntsville Public - Madison Branch Library is one branch of Huntsville - Madison County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 403,565 people it serves.
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 Madison
Does Madison have a public library?
Yes: Huntsville Public - Madison Branch Library, 142 Plaza Drive, is a branch of Huntsville - Madison County Public Library, which serves 403,565 people. The branch is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Huntsville - Madison County Public 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 Madison’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 7.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Madison’s civic life grade?
C+ Madison is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #29 of 156 in Alabama. 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 Madison.
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.