Photo: LittleT889 · CC BY 4.0Midland City’s library logs 5.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Midland City - Mary Berry Brown Memorial Library serves Midland City’s 2,278 residents. Last year it lent 3,267 books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
The short version on Midland City’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 73% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 15%. The building also logs about 11 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
A small-town library
Midland City - Mary Berry Brown Memorial Library serves 2,278 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 35 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Midland City - Mary Berry Brown Memorial Library offered 14 programs last year, 6.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone in Midland City has a card
2,006 cards for 2,278 people, or 88%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Midland City - Mary Berry Brown Memorial Library spends $22 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Midland City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Midland City is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns. Midland City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Midland City’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Midland City - Mary Berry Brown Memorial Library spends $22 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($21K–$36K) 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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Midland City
1.7 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.1%
4.1% of Midland City’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 Midland City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Midland City - Mary Berry Brown Memorial Library serves 2,278 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,267 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,986 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
14 programs a year
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 Midland City last year.
Find it
Midland City - Mary Berry Brown Memorial Library, 1318 Hinton Waters Avenue, Midland City.
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 Midland City? 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 $1.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Midland City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $49K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $64K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $49K 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 2,006 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midland City | Midland City - Mary Berry Brown Memorial Library fine-free | 1.4 | 35 | D− |
| Dothan | Dothan Houston County Library System | — | 42 | 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.
- 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 Midland City
Does Midland City have a public library?
Yes. Midland City - Mary Berry Brown Memorial Library, 1318 Hinton Waters Avenue, serves Midland City’s 2,278 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Midland City - Mary Berry Brown Memorial 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 Midland City’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Midland City’s civic life grade?
D− Midland City is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Midland City.
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.