Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0Berea’s library is a branch of Madison County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 51% of systems its size
Berea’s library is the Madison County Public Library, Berea, a branch of Madison County Public Library, which serves 96,735 people and lent 547K items last year.
What Berea’s library is like
Programs draw a crowd
84,000 people came to the system’s 2,532 programs last year: 0.9 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
The Berea branch is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Berea’s library is a branch of Madison County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (96,735 people), not just the Berea branch.
What’s behind Berea’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Berea is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #24 of 126 in Kentucky. Berea is graded on two of the three inputs. Berea’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
85 community nonprofits are registered in Berea
5.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (25 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.
7.4%
7.4% of Berea’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.6% in the typical Kentucky 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 Berea’s residents live; 2022.
About 18 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Madison County Public Library serves 96,735 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 80 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Madison County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
547K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
177,245 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Madison County Public Library, Berea, 319 Chestnut Street, Berea.
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 Madison County Public Library branch.
New in Berea? 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 $2.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Berea cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.4M 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 45,763 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Madison County Public Library, Berea is one branch of Madison County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 96,735 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 Berea
Does Berea have a public library?
Yes: Madison County Public Library, Berea, 319 Chestnut Street, is a branch of Madison County Public Library, which serves 96,735 people. The branch is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is 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 Berea’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Berea’s civic life grade?
B+ Berea is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 of 126 in Kentucky. 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 Berea.
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.