Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0Madison’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Madison Public Library serves Madison’s 3,171 residents. Last year it lent 1,148 print books and media and logged 3,887 visits.
What Madison’s library is like
Madison Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Madison Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. How it compares ↓
Illinois pays a big share
62% of the budget comes from the state, and 34% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Madison Public Library offered 11 programs last year, 3.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Madison Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Four of the six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. 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.
What’s behind Madison’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Madison is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #686 of 754 in Illinois. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Madison’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Madison’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Madison
3.5 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.2%
2.2% of Madison’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois 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.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Madison Public Library serves 3,171 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
A year at Madison Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1,148 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Madison’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
11 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.
Find it
Madison Public Library, 1700 Fifth Street, Madison.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Madison cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $99K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $20K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $99K 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 133 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Madison ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartford | Hartford Public Library District | 4.1 | 47 | C− |
| Fairmont City | Fairmont City Library Center fine-free | 2.7 | 46 | C− |
| Madison | Madison Public Library | 0.4 | 34 | D |
| Venice Township | Madison Public Library | 0.4 | 34 | D− |
| Granite City | Six Mile Regional Library District fine-free | — | 51 | D |
| Granite City Township | Six Mile Regional Library District fine-free | — | 51 | — graded with its twin city |
| Venice | Venice Public Library fine-free | — | 29 | D− |
| Nameoki Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Brooklyn | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Pontoon Beach | None of its own | — | — | D |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Madison Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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. Madison Public Library, 1700 Fifth Street, serves Madison’s 3,171 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Madison Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Madison’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 0.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Madison’s civic life grade?
D Madison is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #686 of 754 in Illinois. 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.