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Madisonville Branch · part of St. Tammany Parish Library

Madisonville’s library is a branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, which lends less per resident than 67% of systems its size

Madisonville’s library is the Madisonville Branch, a branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, which serves 277,615 people and lent 884K items last year.

1123 Main St., Madisonville 70447 · about 60 hours a week
–Civic lifeNot graded: fewer than 1,000 residents
Borrowed a year
884K
3.2 per resident
Visits a year
606K
2.2 per resident · Above typical (2.1)
Programs & events
2,924
about 56 a week · 96K attended
Cardholders
30%
84,260 cards
Open
60 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Madisonville Branch

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Madisonville’s civic life grade

Madisonville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.

–
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Madisonville’s overall grade.

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 →

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.2 visits · typical 2.1Higher than 53%
Borrowing per resident 2.3 print items · typical 3.2Lower than 67%
Digital borrowing 0.9 e-items · typical 1.4Lower than 67%
Kids’ borrowing 0.8 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 80%
Program attendance 0.3 attendees · typical 0.2Higher than 76%
Programs offered 10.5 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Higher than 55%
Cardholders 30% of residents · typical 41%Lower than 72%
Spending $40 per resident · typical $36Higher than 56%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

St. Tammany Parish Library serves 277,615 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole St. Tammany Parish Library system. The library’s own count.

606K
visits
2.2 per resident
884K
loans, print + digital
3.2 per resident
2,924
programs & events
96K attended
84K
library cards
30% of people served
Every open hour28items borrowed
Every week1,849people at a program
Every day463Wi-Fi sessions
131 staff (full-time equivalent)134 public computers
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

884K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

884Kloans
Books & media (adults) 48%Kids’ books & media 24%E-books, audio & streaming 28%
From your couch

244,351 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 20 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Madisonville →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5839
Ages 6–11217
Teens297
Adults649
All ages922
Little ones
16.1

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

214K
kids’ books & media borrowed
96K
people at programs
2,924
programs
The building

Find it

Madisonville Branch, 1123 Main St., Madisonville.

60
hours open a week
15,050
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every St. Tammany Parish Library branch.

New in Madisonville? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.33 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Madisonville cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$40 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.

Local taxes 96%State 2%Gifts & other 2%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $15M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 84,260 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Madisonville Branch is one branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 277,615 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 Madisonville

Does Madisonville have a public library?

Yes: Madisonville Branch, 1123 Main St., is a branch of St. Tammany Parish Library, which serves 277,615 people. The branch is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is St. Tammany Parish 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 2.2 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Madisonville’s civic life grade?

Madisonville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Madisonville.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.