Madisonville Armory · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMadisonville’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library serves 44,929 people in and around Madisonville. Last year it lent 79K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
Madisonville’s library, in brief
Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $10 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
41% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 59%. What your card is worth ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 57% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library offered 243 programs last year, 5.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library spends $10 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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; Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library serves 44,929 people in and around Madisonville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Madisonville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Madisonville is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #48 of 126 in Kentucky. Madisonville is graded on two of the three inputs. Madisonville’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 →
113 community nonprofits are registered in Madisonville
5.8 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 (44 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.
5.5%
5.5% of Madisonville’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 Madisonville’s residents live; 2022.
57% of borrowing is digital
79K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
45,213 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library serves 44,929 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 3 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.
Find it
Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library, 425 East Center Street, Madisonville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library branch.
New in Madisonville? 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 $2.74 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Madisonville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $469K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $469K 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 29,667 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madisonville | Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library fine-free | — | 36 | B− |
| Earlington | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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.
- System-wide. Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library serves 44,929 people in and around Madisonville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Madisonville.
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 Madisonville
Does Madisonville have a public library?
Yes. Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library, 425 East Center Street, serves 44,929 people in and around Madisonville (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hopkins County-Madisonville 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 Madisonville’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Madisonville’s civic life grade?
B− Madisonville is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #48 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 Madisonville.
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.